Chapter Text
January 7th. 3:00 PM.
Arei wasn't angry. Eden, her first real friend, wasn't someone she got angry at. Instead, she was worried, because she couldn't find Eden. She'd checked everywhere Eden normally was- their shared, on-campus dorm room, Eden's talent lab (filled with clocks and gears and tools of all kinds), the cafe on campus, the dining hall, even that donut place off-campus. She'd texted Eden a few times, but then again, Eden was prone to ignoring her texts or just leaving her phone in odd places. Which left only a few places. It was unlikely Eden had spent the whole damn day in anyone's dorm. But then again, Arei knew that the clockmaker was a social butterfly. That was how Eden had become her first real friend in only a semester.
"Christ... Where could she possibly have disappeared to?"
Arei went into the final location that came to mind, the library. Of course, Min, Arei's second real friend, was in there, hunched over a thick textbook. Arei thought that it might be an anatomy or a biology textbook (she couldn't tell the two sciences apart and didn't care to try). She cleared her throat, startling Min out of her textbook-induced stupor.
"Hey, Min. Do you have any idea where Eden went? She didn't come to school today and I can't find her anywhere."
Min let out a small 'ugh' sound before responding, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.
"Eden said she was going to go cheer Teruko up, since today is her birthday. She asked if I wanted to come, but I told her I wouldn't cut classes, even for Teruko."
Arei rolled her eyes. Leave it to Min to be that focused on her academics.
"Thanks, you big nerd."
Min rolled her eyes right back.
"Remind me who almost failed their first math class here?"
Arei waved a hand in mock offense, clearly enjoying this little song and dance.
"Yeah, and you, out of the goodness of your heart, decided to tutor me. Not because I offered you money to give me the test answers and you decided to tutor me instead."
Min sighed.
"I wish you good luck when the J-term is over, Arei. Please brush up on your math so you don't fail the class."
Arei giggled, then turned to leave.
"Thanks, Min-min!"
Arei walked out of the library, heading towards Teruko's dorm. She knew that Teruko lived in an off-campus apartment, near the sorority and fraternity houses of Hope's Peak Academy. How did she know this, you may ask? Arei had a list of all her classmate's addresses, specifically in order to pester them.
When Arei got to Teruko's apartment/dorm, she didn't knock or ring the doorbell. Instead, she immediately picked the lock on the door and then flung it open dramatically.
"Aha! Finally found you, Eden-!"
Arei was... A little confused by what she saw. She knew Eden had a massive crush on Teruko (it was Eden's worst kept secret, come on), but Arei hadn't expected Eden to act on her feelings. Eden was very, very kind, but Arei also knew that she was pretty mousy and kind of passive. Arei didn't understand why. If she wanted Teruko, she should get Teruko before someone else came along and wooed her!
"Ah... What are you two doing?"
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Teruko wanted to crawl into a hole and die at the sight of Arei, standing in the doorway, clearly misinterpreting what was going on.
"We were having a decent time until you decided to kick down the door, Arei!"
Arei's eyebrows shot up in surprise before she spoke.
"Okay, wow. Did not expect the aggression, Teruko. I only opened the door, it's still attached to the doorframe just fine, isn't it? And what do you mean, having a decent time? What the hell were you two doing?"
Eden finally spoke up, a tinge of red on her cheeks.
"Well, I came over to celebrate Teruko's birthday, and we didn't have much to do, so we just kind of sat down..."
If it was possible, Arei's eyebrows went up even higher.
"You sat down on each other... Sure..."
Arei walked a little further into Teruko's living room, closing the door and muttering
"That's a pretty small TV, but it'll work..."
Teruko (with Eden still laying on top of her) craned her neck to look at Arei.
"It'll work for what...?"
Instead of answering, Arei asked Teruko yet another question.
"Do you have Netflix on this thing, Teruko?"
Teruko shifted a little, which prompted Eden to finally move off of her. Eden looked at the TV, then at Teruko, and said
"I have Netflix! You can borrow mine, Teruko!"
Eden looked around, found the TV remote, and then immediately logged into her Netflix account.
"What do you want to watch on here, Arei?"
Arei sat down on the couch and grabbed the TV remote from Eden's outstretched hand.
"Only the best movie ever animated! Ladies, may I introduce you to K-pop Demon Hunters?"
Teruko and Eden both looked at each other for a second. Teruko shrugged and said
"Sure, why not."
They start the movie. It's... An experience. These three have very different views of this movie that start at the fight in the men's bathhouse. Arei's super excited.
"Abby is so hot! I would give anything to be Mira right now..."
Teruko looks at her weird.
"I really don't understand where you're coming from. I mean, he has nice abs, but don't you want, I don't know, the band leader? Jinu seems pretty cute, and him and Rumi could definitely go together..."
Eden just paused the movie and said
"I don't understand how they seriously expect us to think these girls are 100% straight when the main thing they want to do this whole time is go to the bathhouse together."
They resume watching the movie. Arei simps even harder for Abby's demon form. Teruko cries when Jinu dies. Eden's just sitting there with Teruko saying
"Well, he's probably not dead... And if worst comes to worst, there's other people Rumi's close to, right?"
Teruko definitely liked this movie. Arei has been simping for all the Saja Boys (especially Abby) instead of paying attention to the plot. Eden thought it was a little rushed, but pretty good.
5 PM. Arei leaves, clearly bored and saying that she was going to go pester someone else. That left Teruko and Eden alone together. The only question now was, how long was it going to take for these two girls to pick up on the homoerotic tension Arei could sense from a mile away?
Teruko yawned.
"Should make dinner... maybe a sandwich..."
Eden shook her head.
"Is everything you eat just cold food? I'll make you something."
Teruko shook her head.
"You really don't have to, Eden, you've already done a lot for me today."
Eden got up off the couch.
"Nope. You are getting an actual dinner. It's your birthday, Teruko. Just humor me."
Teruko sighed, somehow already feeling drowsy.
"Fine. Be careful with that stove, it can be sort of finnicky..."
Teruko slipped into yet another nap as Eden busied herself, trying to distract herself from the fact that she'd been cuddling with her crush for several hours. Eden was trying really hard not to make things weird. She wasn't completely sure if Teruko liked her back, and she didn't want to risk ruining their friendship. So, for right now, being close friends would be alright.