Work Text:
Sometimes, Naoko had a hard time understanding people. She would spend endless days trying to figure out how their mind worked, what they thought, why they liked certain things while others didn't... A lot of thinking for someone so busy! Most people did things for selfish things, she figured. The character she was currently writing, the main character, was in fact, a selfish person. She appreciated that, because goody two shoes protagonists were too cliché, and though they were great people, their stories usually followed the same predictable path. So when the director of the TV series had given her a chance to write about someone who starts off as selfish and goes through a journey filled with ups and downs, along with positive and negative character development, she was ecstatic. She had a chance to be different, a chance to make a change. She couldn't mess this up.
There was a firm knock on the door. She looked up, and for a moment considered ignoring it and leading the person, whoever it was, to think she could be sleeping, but the sound only continued, faster and louder, so Naoko had to stand up and answer the door. As if in a cartoonish situation, a fist almost met her face, but quickly stopped just a few centimeters away. She could only blink. "...Yes?"
Before her stood a girl, taller than her, by a few centimeters most likely. She, just like Naoko, had red hair, though the shade of it changed, the screenwriter having a carmine tint to it, while the girl in front of her had vermilion red hair adorning her grinning face. "Hi there! You're Naoko- right?"
Naoko blinked, her golden eyes staring back at the teal ones before her. "Yes, and you are..." She had to wait for a moment, before it clicked, and a small smile graced her face. "Aya, if I recall correctly? We were in the same class, I believe."
Aya confirmed with a small nod, giving the shorter girl a goofy grin. "Yes! So you see- I managed to speak to plenty of people in class today, but I didn't get to properly speak to you alone, since that boy- Masashi was it? Kept tailing you wherever you went." She held back a giggle. "What's up with that?"
Naoko found herself shrugging. "I have no idea. It's a bit weird, to be honest, but I don't mind. He seems like a nice person." Aya hummed in agreement, and Naoko couldn't help but wonder why she brought this up. "Well Aya... What brings you here?"
The taller redhead blinked, before breaking out in laughter and hitting her own head lightly. "I can be such a dummy sometimes, sorry! I almost forgot." She searched for something in her pocket, and pulled out her hand to reveal...
"A hamster?" Naoko looked surprised, and she glanced at the smaller creature with curiosity. "Are we allowed to bring animals to school?"
"I wasn't looking for you-" Aya half-scolded the hamster, jokingly of course. "This is my sweet little Cinnamon. And yes, after all many people have talents related to animals."
Of course, muttered Naoko to herself, almost embarrassed from forgetting something so trivial. "Well Cinnamon looks adorable." She reached out to tap the small creature's head, and Cinnamon seemed to shy away into a roll.
"Don't worry, Cinnamon will warm up to you! But anyway-" She searched in her pocket again, and pulled out a piece of paper, a ticket, was what Naoko could make out from that angle. "This is for you!"
As Naoko accepted the ticket, she glanced at it and her eyes widened. "...Pirates of the Caribbean 5?" Other words seemed to have difficulty leaving her mouth.
Aya scratched the back of her head with a small smile. "Yes, the premiere here in Japan will be this weekend, and even if we did start school just recently, I thought we could go together? Ah- sorry if you don't like pirate movies, I could always ask someone else if you're not interested, I just thought you might be since I remember your talent being related to movi-"
"Are you kidding me?" Naoko interrupted, her eyes almost sparkling, the most emotion they had shown during the whole conversation. "I adore pirate movies- well not every pirate movie considering there are cinematic failures like Cutthroat Island and more-" She rambled, her hands up in small fists, as her whole face lit up with the passion she had for her job. "-but anyway, this is my favorite franchise! Even as someone with connections I couldn't find a ticket for the premiere beforehand, and not to mention a VIP ticket! Are you some kind of angel? What have I done to deserve this?"
Aya seemed amused by Naoko's response, because she chuckled and waved her hand. "I'm no angel but thank you~ And nothing really, you've done nothing and I have no reason to, I just had two tickets with me since my parents know a few people and thought- why not ask someone? You seemed like a great choice!"
Naoko was still excited, but calmed down before raising an eyebrow. "A great choice..? But we're not friends..."
"Yet!" She added, plopping Cinnamon back into her pocket. "Who knows, maybe going to the movies will make us bond- maybe we can become the best of friends!"
Though she was skeptical, Naoko smiled. "But nothing guarantees we will become best friends- and plus I have nothing to give back to you for this."
"I don't need anything, really! I just thought it might make someone happy, that's enough for me!" She tilted her head with a big grin, and Naoko couldn't help but be fascinated by the warm aura the girl gave her.
Hesitantly, she opened her mouth to respond. "Well, alright then, let's see! Meet me at the dorms entrance at Saturday after lunch?"
Aya gave her a finger gun. "Gotcha- I'll see you there Naoko! Or well, tomorrow in class too~ I have to go now, bye!" And so she left with a light step.
Naoko closed the door behind her, and stared at the ticket. No reason? What if she wanted a spoiler for the series- a chance to meet an actor- or anything, from her? Wouldn't that be a reason to try and befriend her? But then again, Aya had found tickets to something this privileged before her, so maybe it wouldn't be difficult for her to do any of those things.
Naoko sat at the desk again. And technically, wasn't wanting to make someone happy somewhat selfish too? Or wanting to befriend someone, having someone close to yourself?
Or maybe she was just overthinking this, and Aya was genuinely interested in becoming friends. Well she would see.
And perhaps... it wouldn't hurt to give the selfish protagonist a selfless friend too, she muttered, picking up her pen to resume writing, with new ideas in mind.