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Attire is an important part of the way one displays themselves to the world. Knowing this, Arashi Narukami presented herself with utmost care, keeping track of current trends and mixing them with her own personal style. With her status as both a model and idol, this was a naturally important part of Arashi’s life. Really, it was a given that someone like her would be so invested in her appearance. Unfortunately, it was also a given that the rest of her unit members would also be invested in appearance—Knights was a very fanservice-heavy unit, after all.
“—And so, I was like, ‘Can’t we change this too?’, and Izumi-chan was like ‘You’re soooo annoying, just settle on something already!’, and Ritsu-chan was like 'Nacchan, Secchan, shut up already and listen to me instead~ I think it would a lot better like this’ and then—” Arashi had been vividly retelling the story of a video call she’d been in earlier that day with the other members of Knights (complete with her impressions of each of them), and how none of them could come to a consensus on new outfits for an upcoming live.
Arashi let out a loud sigh. “Seriously, we ended up with as much as we’d gone in with: nothing! Well... it did feel a lot like older days back in that studio we used to bicker in so much. It was a little nostalgic in that regard~.”
Mika Kagehira had been listening the entire time as Arashi told her story, waving around a small fork as a slice of cake remained unattended to and uneaten in front of her on the table.
Every so often, the two of them would schedule a day with a clear afternoon to spend time together, and today they’d decided to try out a new cafe. Arashi had heard about it from Ritsu, who’d heard about it from Eichi, who’d heard about it from Tori, who’d heard about it from Hajime. Mika didn’t really know any of them that personally, but he trusted his best friend’s judgement. As Arashi continued talking, Mika quietly sipped his drink and nodded along.
After a particularly long-winded and elaborate (and possibly run-on?) sentence, Arashi stopped and took a huge breath, exhaling loudly. She finally took a bite of the cake she’d ordered, and Mika waited for her to finish chewing in case she had more to say. When all she did was look expectantly at him, he realized she was waiting for him to say something. He took the straw out of his mouth and gestured a lot with his hands as he tried to figure out what to say. When all that came out was awkward noises and sounds that were barely words, he groaned in frustration. “Nnn.. Naru-chan, give me a moment to think…”
Arashi nodded and let the silence take its place as Mika sipped his drink again. Whenever Mika focused on something, his eyebrows would come closer together and he had an unconscious habit of biting his lip. She knew he had chapstick on him (after both she and his Oshi-san kept insisting that he should always carry some), but she also knew he always forgot to use it. After a moment, she tapped the table in front of him. “Mika-chan, you don’t have to force yourself to come up with something. I already appreciate that you let me talk so much.”
Blinking a few times and refocusing his eyes, Mika looked up at Arashi. “Eh? Naru-chan? Did ya need somethin’? I promise I’m not spacin’ out on ya, I’m still tryin’ to figure out… err… Naru-chan?” Mika’s voice trailed off as Arashi held a forkful of cake in front of him.
“I think you might like it!” Arashi smiled at him.
He didn’t think much of it, and moved his hand to take the fork. When Arashi pulled away, Mika figured that she probably wanted to feed it to him like in those romance movies she seemed to like, and decided to go along with it, moving his head forward to eat from the fork. While he chewed, Arashi began to talk again.
“Mika-chan, you’re so cute, you know that right? You don’t have to come up with any sort of long response or anything like that. If you don’t know how to respond it’s fine! Even if what comes out of your mouth is incoherent words loosely pieced together, I’ll just figure it out like a puzzle! We are best friends, after all~. What kind of best friend would I be if I couldn’t understand you?” Arashi paused. “Just like how you always listen to me, I will always listen to you too, Mika-chan.”
Having finished chewing a moment ago, Mika spoke up. “I knowww… I just wanna say a lotta things all at once and then they come out all jumbled up n’ everythin’ and it’s so… nnaghhh… talkin’ is hard. It’s just that, well, you have so much t’ say! And I like listenin’ to all of it, and then when it’s my turn to say somethin’, my brain turns into stuffin’ and I come up blank!” Mika tugged at the hem of his sleeve. “But… for the record, I think that anythin’ would look nice if Naru-chan wore it.”
“Aww, Mika-chan you’re too sweet to me~. You can’t play with a girl’s heart so much! My heart just might leap out of my chest...” If there wasn’t a table between them, Arashi would have pulled Mika into a tight hug.
“Haah?! Please don’t let your heart do that! You need it! Nnaahh… what would Oshi-san say?! He always helps me calm d… huh? Naru-chan, why are you laughing?”
Arashi attempted to hide her laughter, but let it out once Mika had asked. “Nothing, Mika-chan. You’re just so… you’re so you! In a good way, I mean.” Arashi’s laughter eventually subsided, and Mika took it as an opportunity to bring up something he wanted to do afterwards.
“Er… I don’t really get it, but thanks. You’re really you too!” Was now a good time? Arashi was close to finishing the slice, and after her previous story with Knights, Mika figured maybe now he could ask her about what he’d wanted to do today.
“Hey, Naru-chan, you were talking about Knights’ outfits, right? D’ya think it would help if we went to go look at clothes together? I’ve been needin’ to get new clothes anyways… mine are gettin’ worn out and faded, and Oshi-san would hate seein’ clothes like that. Like, ‘Kagehira, are you truly incapable of properly dressing yourself each day without me? What could possibly possess you to continue wearing such attire? You can't continue to mend your clothes for the rest of eternity. It would do you well to care more for yourself’ or somethin’ like that, I think? I mean, I know Naru-chan likes shopping, so… it would make sense to go shopping together, right?” Mika averted his eyes.
“Oh? Is Mika-chan asking me out on a date~? Well… we’re already out on a date, aren’t we? And both of us made sure to make a loooot of free time… If I get to help Mika-chan pick out cute clothes, maybe Mika-chan can help me pick out cute clothes too? It’s fun just thinking about~. Anything is fun with Mika-chan! Me and Mika-chan are gonna go clothes shopping~.” Arashi hummed as she fed Mika the last bit of cake then called someone over to pay before Mika could even offer to. She pretended not to hear the sounds of protest.