Work Text:
On a particularly cold winter night, the stars sparkled like small jewels decorating the sky. Haruka Kiritani was standing in front of the cafe quietly looking up at the stars, completely mesmerized by their beauty. Their bright but gentle light reminded her of the countless penlights she would see during ASRUN’s lives, albeit it was a different color from what she usually saw.
A sudden gust of cold wind blows as if telling Haruka to snap out of her trance, making her shiver and pull her coat closer to her to give her warmth. Blowing softly on her gloved hands to warm them up, she once again looks back at the sky, thinking of the other thing - or rather, person - that it reminded her of.
“Haruka!”
The idol turns around at the usage of her name, finding the exact same person she was just thinking about. Her childhood friend rushes out of the store, clearly regretting her choice in attire once the winter air hit her but being too worried about the making the blue-haired idol wait to care.
“I’m sorry! I know it’s busy since Christmas is coming but I really didn’t expect for the shop to take so long to clear! You should have come inside, it’s freezing out here!”
Haruka smiles softly at the panicked girl in front of her, gently reassuring her that she didn’t wait for too long but taking the opportunity to playfully tell her that she is owing her a warm drink for the trouble. An beams, countering the idol with an incident from their middle school days where Haruka was the one owing An a drink, which she hadn’t payed yet, declaring that they are currently even.
The two girls start walking and it’s then that Haruka realizes that she didn’t exactly know where An was taking her. As if reading her mind, An says that they were going to the small diner they used to go a few years ago since Weekend Garage had already closed up and they couldn’t meet up earlier because of Haruka’s practice running late.
“Oh, speaking of which, your team went to an event today too, right? How was it?”
An’s eyes light up excitedly, as if she has been waiting for an opportunity to talk about the event for the whole day.
“It went great! Kohane, my partner, is growing in a rate that none of us ever expected. Her voice is so beautiful and it’s so exciting to sing with her. You should definitely come to an event if you have the time, I guarantee you’ll enjoy it!”
Haruka gives An a smile but the girl is too excited to notice how strained it really was. It was no secret that An harbored special feelings towards her partner and Haruka knew that her partner felt the same way thanks to Minori. It was only a matter of time until they got together and the idol truly wished that they were happy together, even if she couldn’t lie and say it didn’t pain her a little. Haruka lets out a silent sigh and looks up at the sky again, letting An’s rambling on how great Kohane was become background noise for a little bit. For her, An Shiraishi was just like the stars in the night sky. Bright, beautiful, comforting and most of all, out of her reach.
“And this is?”
“Oh come on, it’s clearly a present!”
Haruka stares at the girl in front of her, completely confused on why she would give her a gift. The small box sits on the table, covered in dark blue wrapping and scattered with colorful stars which glinted under the light of the diner they were currently in, somehow resembling An’s hair with the accessories she usually adorned it with.
“I can see that but why?”
An smiled at her, declaring that it was a celebratory gift and urging the idol to open it up. Haruka, although confused, was curious about the gift that was in front of her and decided that she would question her friend afterwards. She picked up the small box and, much to An’s dismay, slowly and carefully teared up the wrapping. She opened it up after playfully hushing down the girl sitting in front of her and looked down excitedly. Inside, she found keychains, four of them to be exact. The keychain had the unit logo for More More Jump, one that they had come up with a few weeks ago, which had a small penguin sleeping on one of the letters. Each keychain’s penguin had a different position and every keychain was in a different color.
“So cute…!”
An smiled at the idol’s reaction, clearly proud of the little present she had prepared.
“A new shop that makes keychains opened up in vivid street a few days ago and I remembered that your group had just come up with a logo so I figured it was a small but cute gift to give you. It’s momojan’s first anniversary soon, right? I know it’s a bit early but I was too excited to give them…”
An smiles sheepishly, clearly embarrassed at her own excitement. Haruka, on the other hand, looks at An in astonishment, not expecting to receive anything from her childhood friend.
“I…I don’t know what to say. This isn’t small at all An, this is adorable! And one for every member too? I wasn’t expecting you to actually remember and now this…”
“Hey, that’s mean! I was the one who has been supporting your dream from the beginning, right? Of course I’ll remember this much! Plus, ever since you joined momojan, you started truly smiling again and it made me incredibly relieved…Naturally I’m thankful to your members so I figured I would show my gratitude in some way”
“An….”
Haruka looks at the girl grinning in front of her, feeling a warmth in her chest that is special to her. She finds herself smiling widely too, trying to fight back tears that have somehow made their way to her eyes.
“It’s because you are like this that I…”
“Hm? Haruka? Did you say something?”
“Nothing much, just…thank you An, I’ll treasure it forever”
An just grins happily, glad to see that Haruka liked her present.
“Ahaha, I thought that would be the case! I mean, you do love your penguins after all~”
The idol chuckles at her friend’s words, not finding it in herself to deny them. The 2 girls continue chatting for what felt like minutes but was actually hours while Haruka gently held onto unsaid feelings, silently deciding that no matter how unreachable An was, she would support her by her side for as long as time forgave her to.
It’s because you are like this that I couldn’t help but fall in love with you.