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“You’re looking great, haven’t you heard me say it enough yet?” the brunette says. “I don’t think this date could go wrong!”
The bluenette looks at her reflection from the shopping mall escalators, adjusting her hair and straightening her skirt frantically. “There are many ways it could go wrong. Appearance is key for preparedness.”
The brunette laughs with curled up, cat-like smile. “I think after the fifth date, appearance can matter a little bit less.”
“You say that, but I know how much you fret over this for your dates.”
“Which is much less frequent now that we’re finally performing quite often. Besides, you two are way too connected now to make your relationship fail. You even get to play your…games, whatever it’s called, when we have time.” The brunette sighs as the bluenette finishes her adjustments.
The bluenette turns to her friend. “How do I look?”
And the brunette is having none of it. “I would rather say ‘where do I look.’ Because someone dear is waiting for you,” she says as she points to the mall entrance.
The bluenette whips her head to where her friend is pointing to see her girlfriend sheepishly waving. Even from so far away, she could see her girlfriend’s flushed face. She turns her head to her brunette friend and faces off against a sly, but a little annoyed smirk.
The bluenette clears her throat, her blushing face starting to appear as well. “Take care.”
The brunette sighs with a smile, turns her friend and gives a small push. “Don’t keep her waiting!” She waves at both of her friends before turning around towards the food court.
That girl…always so clueless. Definitely see why Rinko fell for her.
She goes to a drink stall to get a lemonade, feeling surprisingly parched after her talk with her friend. Waiting in the rather small line, she looks around the food court to see if she is hungry for anything in particular.
“Imai-san?”
Her head turns to the surprised voice, which was right behind her, to see a somewhat familiar face. The woman’s taller friend had quite a look of shock more directed at the person in question rather than herself.
But Lisa got a good look at the woman who shouted her name and her identity started to piece together.
“Ah! Kousaka-san!”
These two have never met personally. However, their statuses as performers helped them be acquainted with each other numerous times on music shows.
They bowed to each other, and Claire followed suit as Honoka bowed. However, she was the only one perceptive enough to talk to either of them.
“Imai-san, you can order now.”
Lisa turned around and saw the cashier staring at her. “Oopsies!” she giggled as she shyly walked to the stand and ordered her lemonade.
Honoka ordered a sweet iced tea right after, as Claire ordered an iced coffee. She got her receipt and stood beside Lisa. Their drinks were prepared quickly and were given to them at the same time.
“So,” Lisa began as they got their drinks, “what brings-”
“Not to be rude,” Claire interjected. “Both of your presences are causing a little disturbance in the mall.”
Honoka and Lisa looked around and saw the mall patron eyes cast onto them. Although they have faced the limelight before, being in a public area felt a lot more embarrassing.
“Heh,” Honoka chuckled quietly. “Imai-san, would you like to talk for a bit?”
…
The three ladies found a shady tree with a bench right in front of it and took a seat.
“That was a little awkward,” Honoka said.
“Just a tad,” Lisa replied. They both laughed and Claire chuckled along as well.
“Your popularities are inevitable for that situation to happen,” Claire said as she finished laughing.
Lisa perked up at the voice. “Ah! I haven’t seen ya in a while, Kosaka-san. And I for sure have not met your friend before.”
Claire put out a hand, which Lisa returned. “Well, I’m more in the background as Honoka’s manager. Claire Fields, hello Imai-san. Please call me Claire.”
“Hiya Claire-san!” Lisa replied with a warm smile. Claire motioned Honoka to talk a little with Lisa, which made the brunette smile, as Claire watched the cars passing by. “So, what were you guys at the mall for?”
“I was looking for some teaching supplies for Rin since she needed some more things before she started at her new school,” Honoka said. “Little private, but it’s not like it’ll kill Rin.”
“My bad for prying,” Lisa apologetically said, to which Honoka shook her head.
“Unless you actually visit her school, I don’t think it’s too much of a problem.” They laughed. “What about you, Imai-san?”
“Not much, just helping Sayo prepare for her date with Rinko,” Lisa replied. She took a sip from her lemonade and felt her face slightly pucker.
“Sour?” Claire asked.
“Not too much, just surprising,” Lisa said after her recovery. “It’s mostly sweet.” Claire nodded as she continued to stare at the road.
“Date, huh?” Honoka said after Lisa and Claire’s small exchange. “I remember passing by some sort of couple close to the escalators. Can’t believe it was you two.”
“Ha ha, couple!” Lisa said dismissively. “If I was with Sayo, I wouldn’t be here talking to you now. What kind of girlfriend would that make me? And I said she was with Rinko.”
“Right, right, that was a silly thing to say,” Honoka said with some red on her cheeks.
“Even I was paying attention to that, come on Honk,” Claire said. They all laughed again.
“Don’t worry about it! But maybe Claire-san is right, get those ears checked up on!” Lisa piled on.
“Alright, whatever,” Honoka said with playful annoyance. “Well, how has Roselia been? Any upcoming performances I should be watching for?”
“Maybe!” Lisa said with a wink. “Yukina is setting up another date, and if we get that set up, we’ll get to practicing.”
“Oh, I think I would want to watch it. I’ve seen you girls perform before whenever we were on shows together,” Honoka said. “Roselia’s music is so captivating.”
“As was your performances, Kousaka-san,” Lisa said back. “You have such a great voice, and the songs you wrote or chose for your performances were so heartfelt!”
“Ah, thanks,” Honoka said. “Well, I stopped while I was young. You’re even younger than I am, and you can still put out great music.”
“I’ll say thanks right back then,” Lisa replied. “We just finished uni, but most of Roselia want to stick with music. Ako is still pretty new in uni despite being there for a year, and Yukina really dedicated herself all to music during university.”
“Wow, you all balanced school and music at the same kind! I only know about what I’ve seen about Roselia, but nothing about your personal lives.”
“Yeah,” Lisa chuckled. “We only are seen as the up-and-coming band, but I guess we don’t discuss our personal lives too often publicly. That’s why Sayo and Rinko’s relationship isn’t too well-known to anyone other than the Roselia fans.”
Honoka nodded. “I didn’t expect Hikawa-san and Shirokane-san to be together. But I’m glad to hear that the relationship is working.”
“You should have seen Sayo,” Lisa said with a giggle. “Panicking despite this being their fifth date.”
Honoka smiled at the thought. “Must have been cute.”
Lisa turned her head away and took a sip of her lemonade, a faint blush on her cheeks. “It was.”
“Ah, Claire! We have something planned for dinner, right?” Honoka said in some panic.
Claire was startled from her friend’s words and looked at her watch. “Shoot! We were meeting with Eli and Nozomi to go to Rin’s house!”
“Ah, I shouldn’t be keeping you guys then!” Lisa said apologetically. “Take care!” Lisa got up and bowed before she began to walk away.
“Wait, Imai-san!” Honoka said, making Lisa turn around. “We should hang out again! I have nothing urgent in the upcoming days, so maybe we can do…stuff.”
Lisa smiled. “I think doing stuff sounds like fun.”
Honoka passed her phone to Lisa, who filled in her contact details quickly.
“Great! I’ll text you in a bit so we can make some plans!” Honoka said. “Take care, Imai-san!”
“Goodbye Kosaka-san! Claire-san!” Lisa said as they all waved to each other.
Lisa took one last sip of her lemonade, her puckering less severe once she got adjusted to the taste. Can’t believe that was so sour, but still so sweet.
As she threw her cup into the trash, she got a text from presumably Honoka.
XXX:
Hey, it’s Kosaka!
Let me know when you have time!
I’d like to meet up again!
Lisa smiled as she replied.
Lisa:
Will do!