Chapter Text
Riko sighs. The low humming of the plane’s engines certainly aren’t helping her fall asleep at the moment and her mind is somewhere else entirely, somewhere far behind her, alongside all the worries she had refused to take along with her on the trip.
There are a million things she should be doing at the moment. And as Riko makes the mistake of letting herself be led by her thoughts, back to where she doesn‘t want to be right now, she’s reminded that being in a plane while on her way to Europe is definitely not one of them.
She is in the middle of her second year of college, the new semester having just started. Her literature and music courses are waiting for her to be picked up but right now they were waiting in vain.
There is that one class on classic Japanese literature where she would have to write five essays total to pass. Normally, she‘d have already researched suitable topics, but she hasn’t. Then there is that class on poems. She wonders if she would have already gotten the recommended collection by now if she were still at home. And then there are the other two courses for her literature major that she would have chosen if she had been given time to look into the ones being offered for the term.
Her piano lessons… her teacher would be mad because she had dropped things with nothing more than an apology and a note that she would be taking a break. And the violin class as well. Not to mention all of her scheduled music classes that she would have needed to build the rest around.
Riko wonders if it would cause any harm to her scholarship. Sure, she had informed all of the people in-charge that she would be taking a semester off, a break because it had just gotten to be too much. But had it really? What if she won‘t be able to pick up where she left? What if this is a mistake she can‘t take back anymore? What if-
Something slumps against her shoulder, effectively stopping her anxious train of thoughts from spiralling further and further downwards. A blur of blonde hair spreads over her shoulder, mingling with some of her own red. The person attached to these strands is breathing evenly and snoring quietly. That is all Riko can tell because Riko can‘t see her face.
Riko‘s features soften as she looks down on Mari, a fond smile appearing and replacing the frown. She doesn‘t know how Mari managed to wrap her into this, to make her agree on a trip through some of Europe’s countries. It‘s a lie of course, because she knows exactly how it had happened. And it actually is ridiculous, if she thinks back.
It started with one of Mari‘s usual antics when Aqours had gathered during the college break. It was such a difficult task to get them all to be in one place now, with all nine of them busy in college, some even in another town, another country…
So, when Mari had declared they would go on a road-trip through Europe everyone had laughed. Until one after another had realized that Mari was being serious. And, of course, everyone had then told her that no, they couldn‘t do that because they all had responsibilities. With every new decline Mari‘s bright smile fell a little and the sight alone had pulled on Riko‘s heartstrings. So, when she was the only one to agree on this trip… she surprised herself and everyone else. But it had brought back that bright and shiny smile on that face that she could draw by heart.
Yes, one reason that Riko agreed to go on the trip was the fact that she is in love with Mari Ohara. So she had wanted to see this smile again. The second reason was she simply wanted to spend more time with Mari again because it felt like eternities between their meetings. A selfish reason, she knows. But she couldn’t help it. The third one was, well, she had wanted to escape. College had started to get the best of her, started to overwhelm her because everyone had such high expectations of her. She was on a scholarship, so it was only natural that everyone thought she would come home with the best results possible. And she had these high expectations herself as well but… it had just gotten to be too much.
And yet as she thinks about it, she feels guilt for slacking off - when in reality it probably is for the best.
“…Riko’cchi?” A sleepy voice calls out for her, pulling her away from her thoughts once more. It startles her at first, but she relaxes back into her seat with closed eyes once she realizes it‘s just Mari who probably woke up.
“Did you sleep well?” Riko leans her head to the side, opening her eyes to look at her friend… only to notice that Mari is right in her face, looking all over her with her eyebrows furrowed. The look in her eyes tells Riko that Mari is worried. But why? Did she start to frown again while she was thinking?
“You looked troubled. Is everything okay?”
So, her troubles did show on her face. And, of course, Mari had to wake up right as they did..
“I am fine, don’t worry.” She tries to put on a smile for Mari to reassure her that everything is fine. Because really everything is except for Riko’s own damn thoughts and anxieties. But Riko’s convinced that those things are nothing with which Mari should be troubling herself.
“You’ll be honest with me, right? If you don’t want to be here, you’ll tell me?”
It’s the brief moment of insecurity in Mari’s expression that makes Riko want to punch herself. If the others thought it was strange for Riko, of all people, to agree, because everyone knows how serious Riko is about her studies, Mari would be as well. Does she think that she pushed Riko into this or that Riko just came along because of pity?
“I am always honest with you.” A lie, Riko knows. Because honesty would be to tell Mari that she loves her. “And I want to go on this trip. I… probably need a break anyways.”
In an instant, Mari’s smile is back again. And although there is a bit of concern mixed into it as well, it still makes Riko smile as well.
“Don’t worry!” Mari declares in her engrish and Riko giggles genuinely. “Your shiny big sister will make your worries melt away!”
And Riko has no doubts that Mari will manage that.