Chapter Text
It had been a practice day without a live stream like many others for More More Jump, until in the afternoon between class periods, Haruka sent a message in the group chat saying she had something important to talk to the group about today. Which wasn’t that usual Minori figured it would be a new opportunity for the group or new stream idea, or something along those lines.
However it was anything but that, and Minori’s mind drew a blank on how the initial conversation had gone it was a blur from her strong reaction, all she can remember is the follow up to as she sat laying on her bed in the evening
“So you think you’re aromantic and really aren’t interested in any relationships or romance?” Airi asked.
“I think so, I had always felt an odd sense of comfort from ASRUN’s no dating policy, but I never realized why until now. When it clicked that those things weren’t something that I desired, or made me happy, I’m more happy to have that space of myself. Though of course, I would never ask More More Jump to add such a policy,” Haruka said calmly with a smile.
“Well, as long as it’s what will make you happy, you won’t hear any complaints from me. What do you think, Shizuku?” Airi asked.
“I think it’s wonderful that Haruka-chan can understand herself more and talk to us about it and I agree with Airi-chan, as long as it makes you happy. Though is it still okay for me to hug you, Haruka-chan?” Shizuku asked.
“Thank you both of you, I was a little nervous bringing this up. And as long as it's just hugs and it’s not too often, then I guess I don’t mind that much,” Haruka said.
“Thank you Haruka-chan!” Shizuku said hugging Haruka, “Though Minori-chan has been awfully quiet this conversation hasn’t she?”
“That’s true, Shizuku, I was expecting her to have said something by now,” Haruka stated.
Minori felt all gazes shift to her in that moment, and her heart rate elevated and hands trembled, and her thoughts threatened to overwhelm her, she knew this was bad, she couldn’t and didn't want to risk to anything that could hurt Haruka-chan, yet it took everything Minori had to not flee or worse collapse in that very moment under the weight of her emotions, she pushed one of her hands fingers against the palm of the other desperately to calm herself just enough to speak, she had to try to put Haruka-chan at ease.
“Uh? Me? I t-think it’s also a wonderful thing like Shizuku-chan said, though I don’t think I have anything useful to say ahaha,” Minori forced out with an awkward laugh to try to hide her nerves.
Minori sensed it the way the three of them looked at her with concern… Minori was worrying the Haruka that she loved, this was bad…
“Minori, It’s…” Minori heard the concern with a hint of hurt in Haruka’s voice and she couldn’t bear it anymore, if she was just gonna make Haruka feel like that, it probably would be better to run.
“It’s fine Haruka-chan,” Minori interrupted, “I forgot my mom asked me to be home early today, so I’ll be leaving now.”
Minori heard a wait from someone she wasn’t sure who, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn back, and she couldn’t possibly show Haruka-chan the tears in her face right then.
That’s all Minori could remember as she replayed today’s events in her head for the third time, before being interrupted by her mother checking on her since she never appeared for dinner and apparently her eyes were still a bit red.
Her late dinner ends up more awkward than usual, even though it includes salmon, one of her favorites, Minori remains unusually quiet and less expressive both during eating and whenever her parents ask her anything, she could only nod weakly and she only manages to finish maybe half of the food in front of her. As her mind races internally looking for any possible way to convince Haruka and rest of more more jump she’d be fine after earlier.
She’s desperate for anything and one absurd thing comes to her mind, it’s risky, but it’s been quite some time now as she lays in her bed now lost in thought once more. She pushes that thought to the back of her mind, and tries to think of anything else.
Minori doesn’t know how long she’s been laying there now, but it’s no good she can’t think straight. And as embarrassing as it is, Minori can’t think of any better way to convince Haruka that she’ll be okay than showing Haruka she can love someone else even if Minori was actually faking it.
Minori starts imagining who she could possibly ask though…
Maybe one of her classmates, like Kohane-chan? She thinks at first, before remembering that she’s close to An, Haruka’s childhood friend, and that would definitely put too much pressure on her, so Kohane is out.
Then what about Shiho-chan? ‘You want me to pretend to date you in front of my SISTER? There’s a lot I’d do for you Minori, but that’s way too embarrassing, I can’t do it sorry,’ the image of Shiho protesting immediately came to her mind.
There is Saki-chan and Ichika-chan, but both of them are Haruka’s classmates so that probably wouldn’t go well either…
That just left the members of More More Jump, she couldn’t imagine Shizuku being capable of understanding why Minori would want her to lie to Haruka nor wanting to pretend to do that…
Minori gulps as she realizes she only has one hope if she wants to convince Haruka-chan that she’ll be just fine and show she’s capable of being happy with someone else (even if it's pretend), it’s her reliable mentor, Airi-chan.
Minori grabs her phone and turns it on and ignoring the notifications she may have gotten from today, goes to her text message chat with Airi.
There is one new message from Airi.
‘Minori, we’re all a bit worried about you after today, I know it must have surprised you, but if you need anything, I’m here to offer you my support as always.’ Airi’s message read.
She even says she’ll do anything… So maybe Minori should try this, not like she had any other ideas.
‘Hello Airi-chan, I’m feeling a little better now I promise, but I think I might take you up on that offer, so could you meet me before school starts at the one stairs at the back of the school there is something I’d like to ask for your help with in person.’ Minori sends.
Immediately she sees Airi typing and her phone buzzes.
‘Minori! I’m glad you’re okay and of course I’d be glad to, let’s try to meet up 30 minutes before class then, it shouldn’t be anyone there then.’
‘Thanks Airi-chan, I appreciate it, and see you then.’
Minori sets an alarm for a bit earlier than usual and heads back to sleep as best she can.
Minori finds herself awake well before her alarm by an hour and sun only barely peaks through the curtains, though maybe that was to be expected given how much she had slept the previous afternoon.
She uses some of that time to look in the mirror, though she looks better than last night, she’d rather look a bit better than this to ask such a big favor from Airi-chan, and for school, she tries her best to cover some of it up with makeup.
It takes a bit, but she’s satisfied enough with her work and goes to eat breakfast before heading to school extra early.
Minori arrives at the meet up point seeing almost no other students yet along the way, and no signs of any one in this remote spot of the school. She looks at her phone and sees still 15 minutes before they had agreed to meet up.
Her phone buzzes, ‘Minori you awake? I’m on my way to school now.’ a message from Airi-chan.
‘I’m actually already here, I’ll be waiting.’
‘Okay good, see you soon.’
Before too long, a familiar voice calls out “Minori! Sorry to make you wait.”
Minori shook her head, “It’s fine, I just woke up too early.”
“Still you don’t look as bad as expected from yesterday, are you feeling okay?” Airi asks, moving to Minori’s side under the staircase.
“I think I cried most of it out already so I feel a little bit better, ahaha…” Minori says weakly with an awkward laugh.
“Still a bit heartbroken huh. Well not that I can really blame you, your crush on her was always really obvious, but I’m glad you’re not bottling it up at least,” Airi says gently.
“Sorry for running away yesterday, I know it was pathetic of me, but I just couldn’t think of anything else…”
“It’s alright you acted that way because you didn’t want to hurt Haruka and burden her with those tears, right?” Airi says in an unusually soft tone, putting one arm around Minori’s shoulder.
Minori nods, “I just remember how much she faulted herself for what happened with Mai-chan, and I didn’t want to do that to her, I want Haruka-chan to be happy being herself, I didn’t want to burden her with this and make her doubt herself.”
“You really are such a kind person, Minori, I figured it was something like this, so I had stopped the two of them from chasing you yesterday,” Airi says in a whisper.
“Thank you Airi-chan, and sorry for making you come this early for me,”
“It’s fine I offered my support and this is well within that, so what did you call me here for, just for some comfort or something else?” Airi asks.
“Oh right uh… um… Airi-chan I’d thought a lot about how I could convince Haruka-chan that I’d be fine actually after that, and to that I have a big request to you, will you hear me out?”
Airi raises an eyebrow, “Of course I can do that much, though what are you planning for that?”
“Well uh, I thought about it a lot, but only one idea really came to mind, I need to show Haruka-chan that I can be happy in a relationship with another person, then she’ll know she doesn’t have to worry about me, and that things will work out, so Airi-chan please, I know this is a lot to ask will you pretend date me at least until she’s convinced, you’re my only hope for this plan,” Minori pleads desperately to Airi.
Airi sighs, “This is such a stupid plan, you want us to fake a relationship to convince Haruka of all people, surely there has to be a better option than this,” she says with her annoyance audible in her tone.
“I thought so too… but I tried and tried and I couldn’t think of anything better to convince her after how pathetic I was yesterday, could you?” Minori whimpers.
Airi pushes her fingers lightly against forehead in frustration, “Ugh I’ll admit I don't have any better idea how to patch things up after yesterday, otherwise Haruka would be worrying about this for weeks if not months…” Airi sighs, “But why me of all people?”
“W-well, Ichika-chan and Sak-chani are both Haruka-chan’s classmates so would be a lot to ask them, Kohane-chan knows An-chan too well, Shiho-chan would never accept that especially in front of Shizuku-chan, and well you know how Shizuku-chan is… So you left as the only one I could possibly ask, please Airi-chan,” Minori says anxiously.
Airi groans and clicks her teeth, “Tch, Alright alright, I see your point, then I’ll do it, but if we’re going to fake this relationship, we’ll need some practice to fake it properly before we can convince someone like Haruka, so we’ll have to do this seriously.”
“Airi-chan! Thank you so much you’re the best!” Minori says hugging Airi.
“You’re welcome, though Minori, are you free this weekend?” Airi asks.
Minori nods, “Why do you ask?”
“Good then, we’ll be canceling practice today and for the next three days, the two of us will practice this fake dating stuff and getting used to being a bit closer to each other, okay?” Airi asks.
“Three days of it is that much really needed?” Minori asks in surprise.
“That’s the bare minimum we’ll need if we want to have any hopes of convincing Haruka of all people she’s a perceptive person, anything less than that and there is no way she’ll believe that you’re actually happy to be dating me, got it?”
Minori nods.
“Good then meet me at the front gate after school, and I’ll handle telling Shizuku and Haruka about practice, so just avoid them at lunch, if you eat in the classroom they shouldn’t bother you.”
School went smoothly enough, thanks to her makeup and talking things over with Airi-chan, even Kohane and Shiho didn’t pry too much when she said it was personal stuff related to her group mates. And Airi was right about Shizuku and Haruka not showing up, she must have convinced them to give Minori a bit more space.
So arriving at the school gate, she spots Airi-chan already waiting for her, “Airi-chan!” Minori calls out.
“Oh Minori, good time I just got here, so let’s head out together,” Airi says happily.
Minori nods, walking a bit faster to catch up to Airi, “So what did you tell the two of them?”
“I told them, you still felt a bit down, but that we had agreed to spend some time together, so I could help cheer you up some,” Airi says.
“Thank you, Airi-chan, it would have been hard for me to do that,” Minori says.
“It’s the least your to be you know what could do,” Airi says with a wink, placing an arm around Minori.
“A-airi-chan?” Minori yelps in surprise.
“If you can’t handle that much your plan has no chance,” Airi says teasingly.
Minori winces, “T-thats true I guess, so where are we headed?”
“I figure there are probably a few more things we still need to discuss, so to one of the less known, more quiet cafes, I know of, we shouldn’t need to disguise ourselves there,” Airi says thinking to herself.
“That makes sense, lead the way then,” Minori says.
“Of course, though time for the first part of your practice, we’ll hold hands on the way there,” Airi says, grabbing one of Minori’s hands and cradling it in her own.
“A-already?” Minori says in surprise.
“Of course, we only have a limited time before you see Haruka again,” Airi says.
Minori nods. “Okay then I’ll do my best.”
As she tries to get use to the gentle warmth in Airi’s hand that pulls her along, it’s nothing overwhelming, though it still can fluster Minori a bit at first, as they walk further, it starts to feel almost calming despite the embarrassment, maybe because Airi can be reliable even in times like this when Minori makes absurd requests of her.
At the cafe there were only a few other tables in use in of the some dozen tables, so Minori could see what Airi meant about the cafe. Airi had quickly ordered them some drinks, and handed Minori a menu to look at as they sat at the cafe near the back.
“So first off do you have any idea about the cover you want to tell Haruka and Shizuku for about this?” Airi asks.
“Cover…?” Minori says blankly.
“Did you really make this request to me, and not even think about that? You know what are you planning to tell them about how/why we started dating, since it’s better it comes from you for this,” Airi says with a hint of irritation.
“Ah… I haven’t even thought about it, sorry Airi-chan…” Minori says apologetically, she had been so caught up in everything she had failed to even consider how she was gonna tell Haruka that.
Airi sighs, “You can be such a handful sometimes, though I half-expected this, so if you don’t have any other ideas, then my suggestion is that, to go with something along the lines of ‘Airi-chan had put so much effort into cheering me up, that it really surprised and moved me, so I couldn’t help starting to fall for her, and I ended up confessing to her,’ or something like that,” Airi says doing her best Minori impression shifting her pitch up a few tones.
Minori whimpers, “Uwaa wouldn’t that be really embarrassing for me to say to Haruka-chan and Shizuku-chan?”
“Huh, what do you mean you’re the one who asked for this and didn’t offer any other ideas, besides we’re just pretending to be in love remember, so you don’t need to get that embarrassed, you just need enough emotion in that it feels a bit genuine, okay?” Airi says.
“S-sorry I guess I really hadn’t considered the full ramifications of this plan yet, I’ll try though,” Minori says awkwardly.
“Good and it’s alright, that’s why today is for planning and working things out, now I want to hear you say what I said before yourself,” Airi says eagerly.
“D-do I have to?” Minori asks.
Airi nods, “If you can't, this has no chance of working, and I can go home now.”
“W-wait I’ll do it then, just let me prepare myself,” Minori says nervously.
Minori takes a deep breath and thinks about how Airi phrased it…
“Airi-chan just did so much to help cheer me up, that it touched my heart a bit, so I couldn’t help start feeling something for her, and uh umuhhh I ended up c-confessing to her,” Minori says though she started off calmly, she felt her balance slipping with each word…
“I’d give that a four,” Airi says bluntly.
“Out of five?” Minori asks.
“Out of ten, you started out okay, but you lost the emotion behind it by the end, not bad for the first attempt, but nowhere near good enough to convince Haruka that you were swept off your feet like that,” Airi says harshly.
“Let’s try two more times, and if not we’ll move on and come to this later, since you might be able to do it better later with more experience,” Airi says more calmly.
Minori tries again, but only getting another four and a six, Airi decides they should move onto other aspects of planning.
“So should we plan to take things slowly or move quickly to convince Haruka?” Airi asks.
“Uh um… I think we should take things slow for my heart’s sake, I mean it would probably feel off to Haruka-chan, if suddenly we were super lovey dovey and I had totally gotten over her,” Minori says frantically.
“Fair enough, we’ll go with that then, oh looks our drinks are ready, do you have anything you want to order?”
Minori nods and points at a set on the menu, “I didn't eat enough yesterday, so I’ll go with this set,”
“Good then we’ll order now, and can leave serious talk until we’re done eating,” Airi says.
After Airi said that, the mood shifted to a lot lighter compared to before when it felt like she was testing Minori’s commitment to this fake dating plan in some ways. Airi didn’t call it practice this time, but maybe being around each other casually and comfortably was also part of her goal? Since if Minori just stayed tense around her all the time, that would definitely make Haruka suspicious of them.
Airi chatted with Minori about idols, about what she likes about Haruka, about nothing, and about everything as they drank their drinks, which were quite good. Maybe Airi knew more about Minori’s preferences than she realized. And things flow like that until they both finish eating their meals.
“Before we leave and pay our checks, I have one last question for you, Minori,” Airi says with a smirk that sends a small chill down Minori’s spine.
“W-what’s that Airi-chan?” Minori asks sheepishly.
“If Haruka or Shizuku asked you what you like about me, what would you say?” Airi asks still with that same smirk as before.
“Uh um… I don’t know?... What would you say, Airi-chan?” Minori asks anxiously, fiddling with her unused silverware.
“Hmph, that’s easy, I’d say I’ve always been fond of Minori’s optimistic attitude and kindness,” Airi says with a bright smile.
Minori blushes a little, but thinks she understands more, “Oooh I see, then maybe I’d say Airi-chan is always so reliable and believes in me so much,” she says with a modest smile.
“Not bad, that was a lot better than your earlier telling them what happened, if you can keep that sort of thing in mind, we might just be able to convince Haruka enough to not question things too much, good job Minori,” Airi says.
“Thank you and I’ll keep that in mind, so what were we planning for the rest of the day?” Minori asks.
“Well since you said slowly, how about the aquarium today? You love otters right?” Airi asks.
Minori nods, “That sounds really fun Airi-chan, but are you okay paying for that?” she asks.
“Don’t worry about it, besides I think if we leave now, we can make it to the last otter feeding session of the day,” Airi says confidently.
“Thank you, and w-wait, how do you know that?” Minori asks.
Airi smirks, “Huhuhe, when I made that suggestion earlier for our cover, I made sure to have some plans in mind to sell it, and spent my lunch period looking into somethings, and you want to see that don’t you?” she declares proudly with her hands on her hips.
“I should have never underestimated you, Airi-chan, thank you for doing so much for me for this, and let’s go then!” Minori says happily, feeling lifted up by a bit already from Airi.
“Of course, and I want to be able to smooth things out within More More Jump just as much as you,” Airi says happily.
As they leave the store and head to the station to get to the aquarium, Minori notices this time Airi doesn’t take her hand, and asks, “So do I not need more practice with that?” she asks, staring at Airi’s hand.
“You do, but at this time of day at the station on a Friday, I don’t think we need the extra attention, so for now just focus on having fun, I prefer seeing you smile too,” Airi says, having already since leaving the cafe swapped into a simple disguise with a coat over her uniform, and her signature cap, mask, and glasses.
“I see I try, by the way are you gonna wear that the rest of the day?” Minori asks.
“Nah, just for the train ride at places like the aquarium people tend to pay more attention to the animals, than other people,” Airi says.
“Oooh that makes sense,” Minori says.
The pair arrive at the aquarium and get their tickets quicker than Minori had expected thanks to Airi’s planning, her preparedness impressing her once more.
Minori flipped through the map and brochure for the aquarium she had grabbed, “Airi-chan shouldn’t we hurry since we only have 15 minutes until it starts according to this and it looks towards the back of the aquarium,” she saws showing the event times page to Airi.
“Don’t worry Minori, we can just use these stairs to reach there quickly on a different route,” Airi says pointing to a spot on the map.
“Oh you’re right it does look like we can do that, let’s go then, I want to have a good view of the otters!” Minori says excitedly, eager to see one of her favorite animals in person, since it had been awhile since she last got to. She unconsciously grabs Airi’s hand and starts dragging her to the route she had just been shown.
Yet she doesn’t feel any protest to it, so Minori only realizes what she had done, when she hears Airi taking a deep breath after they arrive and hears the announcement “The otter feeding will begin shortly, please stay in the area to see the event.”
Minori lets go, “W-wait, was I holding your hand that long without asking, sorry Airi-chan,” she says frantically, looking at Airi’s feet.
“Don’t worry about it, besides it was some good practice and cute to see you so caught up in your excitement that you didn’t even realize it, though I didn’t think we’d make it all the way here and up the stairs before you noticed,” Airi says with a giggle.
Minori winces when her eyes meet Airi’s again, “Don’t make those expressions now, Minori, just look how nice this area is for the otters,” Airi says comfortingly and placing her hands on Minori’s shoulders to point her towards the exhibit.
“Woah, you’re right, these Otter’s area has to be at least twice as big as the ones I’ve seen before, it has such a lovely clean pond for them to swim in, I wonder how many otters they have here,” Minori says with her hands pressed together in delight.
“I think I spotted at least four already so maybe five or six?” Airi says unsure.
Minori intently watches a few of the otters swim about and few other moving around on the ground in the enclosure for a couple of moments, “Hmm, I think you’re right that it looks like about six of them, Airi-chan let’s move a bit closer before the feed starts please, since it’s not too busy,” she pleads with eyes that Airi couldn’t hope to say no to.
“Well just this time, I suppose it’s fine, let’s find a good closer spot,” Airi says.
Minori smiles brightly, as she drags Airi by her arm this time to where she thinks they’ll have a good view and Minori just watches the otters happily, though she feels Airi’s gaze fall on her from time to time as she had gotten used to sensing it from how often it was on her during their dance practices.
“The otter feeding will begin momentarily.”
“Airi-chan it’s starting!” Minori says with a small hop and clinging to Airi briefly.
Airi nods, “It sure is, I’m sure it will be fun.”
Minori watches as all of the otters gather near where they must know the staff who feeds them is coming from here and on cue, the staff member appears and greets each other the otters by name feeding them one specific fish each, while taking care to not let them sneak more food. Then throwing some food for each of the otters in the water and watching them happily dart and swim around to get the food, Minori is entranced by watching it.
“And that concludes today’s otter feeding, I hope you all enjoyed,” the staff member says and the small crowd cheers.
“Wasn’t so much fun and weren’t the otters so cute, Airi-chan?” Minori says, still starstruck looking her hands tightly grasped together.
“Hmm it was pretty fun, I think I see a bit more why you like otters so much, they’re cute and the staff member did a good job showing off each the otters’ personalities too to make it more fun for everyone watching,” Airi says thoughtfully placing a hand on her chin.
“Hehe, yeah she did a good job with that, and I’m glad you can see their cuteness,” Minori says happily, “Airi-chan, since we went to my favorite thing first, is there anything you’d see next?”
“Hmmm, let me see your map,” Airi points to a spot on the map, “I’m always a fan of these spots at aquariums.”
“The Touch Pool?” Minori reads aloud to herself, uncertain what that is.
“Do you not know what that is?” Airi asks.
Minori shakes her head.
“Well basically, it's a special spot where you can touch certain aquatic animals, most often stingrays and certain types of sharks,” Airi answers.
“S-s-sharks and s-stingrays, that sounds kind of scary Airi-chan,” Minori says with a slight tremble.
“Don’t worry Minori, these types of sharks are harmless to us and they remove the stingers of the stingrays before putting them in, so it’s safe even for little kids,” Airi says reassuringly.
After the eventful otter feeding and touch pool, Minori enjoyed the rest of the aquarium with Airi-chan at a more casual pacing and it was fun to look together at all the sea creatures and talk about it! Watching the jellyfish together was especially calming on Minori’s nerves and then of course they both had to take some pictures of the penguins for Haruka-chan! As well a few pictures together during it to show them trying to be close with each other.
Though Airi-chan did occasionally test her with some surprise moments of affection, though Minori found herself still often verbalizing some sound or another, her level of surprise had dropped a bit and she calmed down just a little quicker.
As the date came to an end, Minori asked if Airi-chan had any more plans for them today and she said that was it, since she didn’t want to keep Minori too long and she needed to prepare for tomorrow since apparently for the next day of training she’s supposed to go shopping with her and then to Airi-chan’s house for a SLEEPOVER???
Minori’s mind raced at the thought, since this was uncharted territory for Minori even more so than today had been, so it was hard for her to not feel a little bit anxious about the sudden revelation from Airi’s plan…
Yet she had no choice but to agree with it, she had to for Haruka’s sake!
After arriving home, Minori was at least a bit more at ease than the prior night, she managed to eat her dinner properly, talk with her parents, do her homework, and even do her evening stretches. So even if work still needs to be done still, Minori feels some hope that she’ll be able to meet Haruka-chan with a smile again, thanks to Airi-chan.
First on their afternoon shopping trip, Airi told Minori she’d need to pick out an accessory for her that she thought suited her best and Airi is doing the same, calling it some sort of bonding exercise to see where they stand with each other or something? To maybe prove to Haruka-chan later that they’d gotten closer and understood each other more.
Minori wonders to herself, what would suit Airi-chan best? As she browses through the current store, something pink and girly comes to mind, maybe heart shaped remembering how fond of the heart hands pose she is, even proclaiming it as her signature pose. Would that be too much for when they are still only just starting to fake dating though?
Minori decides after looking at a few such accessories, that now is definitely not the time for that, she can’t describe it, but she can practically hear Airi-chan’s irritation if she imagines showing her these as what she got.
What else could she get, maybe something cat related? Though that’s probably a bit too obvious of a choice… She could imagine Airi looking happy, but also upset at her for that. Probably better to think of something else, since the point was trying to bond some to be more convincing.
Looking around the store for a few minutes, Minori finally got an idea, seeing a pretty ribbon, she remembers how Airi-chan almost always wears ribbons in her hair and how she always picks ones that contrast against her hair color to stand out even when smaller ones like her casual yellow pair, so maybe something pink is the wrong choice, then maybe something blue would look nice contrasting against her hair.
Minori sees a nice pair of dark blue ribbons, the shape is a bit more pronounced, fancy, and detailed compared to Airi-chan’s standard choices, but she’s sure it would look good on her for some special occasion. So she goes to the cashier to check out.
Minori sits outside waiting for not even a few minutes before Airi-chan joins her.
“You picked out yours already Airi-chan?” Minori asks curiously.
“Ehehe, I technically picked yours yesterday, I just wanted to make sure I couldn’t find anything better, here” Airi says, pulling a small bag out from her school bag after joining Minori on the bench.
Minori opens the bag to reveal an otter themed pencil case with them in swimming motions around the bag, “Aww how adorable, thank you Airi-chan, but why this?” she asks happily.
“Well after seeing how happy you were yesterday over the otters, I thought it was a shame you didn’t seem to have anything like this, so I had doubled back to the gift shop and found it,” Airi stampers.
“Ahaha, my personal spending just tends to usually prioritize idol things,” Minori says with an awkward laugh.
Airi sighs, “I swear you’re even worse about that than I am, somehow. Anyways, what did you pick out?”
“Oh right, here I tried to give it a good bit of thought, and decided on this here you go Airi-chan,” Minori says, offering the small bag that had been resting in her lap.
Airi opens the bag and takes out the pair of ribbons, examining them closely, “Hmm… maybe you’re better at this than I expected Minori, can I ask why you picked it?”
“Uh… um… I sort of noticed in daily life and in idol outfits you seem to favor ribbons that contrast more against your hair, compared to mine that compliment my hair, so I thought you might like something like that?” Minori says a bit nervously.
“Then you get a pass from me, good job Minori, thank you” Airi says as she ruffles Minori’s hair a bit running her hand over her head.
Minori winces, “Eh, Airi-chan?!” she says in surprise.
“You’re supposed to lean into it, to enjoy it, if you can’t enjoy a little affection paired with praise then you know what will be harder,” Airi says with a hint of disappointment.
“Like this?” Minori says leaning her head just a little in it, trying to let herself feel Airi-chan’s gentle movements and she feels herself giggling a little.
“That’s better, but what’s so funny?” Airi asks glaring at Minori despite her not stopping.
“Just I never thought you’d spoil me like this, since you’re usually so strict, so I couldn’t help myself.”
“That’s what you thought of me, huh?” Airi says with a smirk, as she starts to run her hand through it a bit more finely.
“Airi-chan!?! T-that tickles,” Minori says giggling still.
“Good serves you right, anyways let’s get going, we still need to shop for groceries, if I’m gonna cook for you tonight and tomorrow,” Airi says, still smirking happily with this outcome.
“Oh I get to taste your cooking again? Your cooking is always impressive Airi-chan.”
“Thanks, glad you’re looking forward to it.”
Shopping for groceries goes smoothly enough as they pick out ingredients and discuss what meals they want to do since Airi-chan wants Minori to stay until tomorrow afternoon, so dinner, breakfast, and lunch all need to be planned for.
Which it turns out was a fair bit of things to buy, especially Airi-chan seems to favor making things from scratch often, maybe that’s part of why her food always got the best reviews from everyone in more more jump on any of their cooking related streams, Minori thought to herself.
Aside from helping Airi-chan a bit with her wonderful meal for the two of them and her younger sister, Minori found herself spending a more peaceful evening in Airi’s room than she had expected. Time passed doing things like talking hairstyles including helping her try out the ribbons Minori had picked out earlier, though Airi-chan thought they were a bit too fancy for her usual style, saying it could work for a date though and of course talking about idols, listening to some of their songs that she wanted to hear Minori’s opinions on. Sure Airi-chan did occasionally give Minori a bit of a scare with sudden affection, but it wasn’t as frequent as she had expected for some reason?
And whatever else was on their mind including Airi-chan being kind enough to try to give some space for her to let a bit of her heartbreak over Haruka-chan. Minori found she really couldn’t really say too much on it even with Airi-chan practically insisted, eventually folding and offering Minori a hug which she accepted and holding each other in that warm hug, and Minori feels tears welling up a bit…
“Airi-chan… it j-just hurts that I never got to tell Haruka-chan the depth of my feelings, and I can’t now, and even if I could I worry those words would only hurt her,” Minori says gripping Airi’s back tighter, with a pain in her voice and heart she hadn’t realized was there until she felt those tears.
“I know that must be hard for you, but I’m sure Haruka wouldn’t feel hurt by your feelings even if she couldn’t accept them because you care about her happiness, and I know you’ll find a time that’s still right to tell her Minori,” Airi says gently as hugs a bit tighter.
“Thank you, Airi-chan, I’ll hope for that chance to come,” Minori says, sniffing her tears back.
“You don’t need to thank me, I promised you my full support didn’t I? This is included in that,” Airi says.