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Shiho was just having a normal day, tuning her bass guitar while quietly humming their newest song to herself before class began. The rest of the class was buzzing about amongst themselves, their teacher had not yet arrived, and some of her classmates were eating food even though it was not recess time yet. Yup, everything was on par with her definition of normal so far.
Until one Minori Hanasato, a kind and generous classmate of hers comes in and ruins it. Well, sort of.
“Shiho-chan, please teach me how to flirt!”
“Minori, I cannot stress enough how I am the worst avenue for that type of request.”
Shiho looked at the desperate brunette, who was almost close to tears. She almost felt sorry for her. Almost because the absurd request from her still makes the clockwork and gears in Shiho’s brain spin at an ungodly speed. She wondered what even prompted Minori to think that Shiho knows how to flirt.
“Isn’t my older sister better with that type of stuff? Why don’t you go ask her instead?”
“I did but she just started blushing and giggling about Airi-chan and then she said Airi-chan is the better flirt.”
“Then ask her!”
“I also did!” Minori pressed on. “But she said she didn’t realize she was flirting with Shizuku-chan until I pointed it out!”
“But they’re in a relationship?”
“I said that too but when I did, Airi-chan was surprised and her face got all red and told me to stop assuming things, and then she ran away from me!”
“Wait,” Shiho frowned, mildly confused with what Minori just told her at that moment. “My sister isn’t in a relationship with Momoi-san?”
“I’m surprised too!”
Shiho was also surprised. The way her older sister and the pink-haired idol acted around each other whenever they were in the Hinomori household was something Shiho was sure was not romantic.
She is now questioning if putting a gardenia flower behind your friend’s ear while telling them that meeting them was one of their incomparable greatest moments in life is platonic or romantic because that is the display she had the utter displeasure of witnessing and overhearing in the comforts of her living room not even one week ago.
“Huh,” she let out instead, looking out into the distance.
“Shiho-chan! Shiho-chan! Wake up, Shiho-chan!”
She was snapped out of her daze by the sounds of Minori’s fingers snapping in front of her face.
She looked at the brunette, her eyes blinking repeatedly for a moment. “What was that?”
“Help me flirt with Haruka-chan!”
“Oh, for goodness sake,” Shiho rubbed her forehead. “Why not ask Kohane? Out of the both of us, she is the one with the significant other.”
“If I ask her, she’s just going to rant about An-chan and that’s not really an answer I’m looking for.”
“Did you even try asking her?”
“Yes, I did! Kohane-chan was the first person I asked. She told me that An-chan taught her how to flirt and then for some reason, she just started ranting about her date with An-chan in Phoenix Wonderland and then won’t stop talking about it.”
Shiho groaned, seemingly out of options but to help the desperate girl in front of her.
Shiho figured that there really was no reason for her to refuse. Despite it not being her preferred genre, she is familiar with a myriad of love songs and flirty songs so maybe she could use some of them and perhaps incorporate some of their lyrics to help her desperate friend out.
Besides, it is the same Minori who has always helped her out before.
“Okay,” she sighed reluctantly before looking at Minori with uttermost seriousness. “I just learned this stuff from those romance things Saki always talked about and some songs I heard so none of this is trustworthy and can guarantee success. Are you willing to take that risk, Hanasato-san?”
Shiho does not know why she started speaking like a narrator before a terribly written RPG game begins.
“I will take that risk,” said Minori, her voice strong.
“Okay, then I’ll help you.”
She saw the light return in Minori’s eyes as a huge grin plastered itself on the brunette’s face.
“Gah! Thank you so much, Shiho-chan!”
“Now, listen carefully, Minori,” she looked at Minori seriously.
“Haruka-chan!”
“Ah, Minori,” the idol smiled brightly, watching the brunette approach her with a serious look she hasn’t worn before. “I’m just about to eat lunch with Tenma-san and Hoshino-san. Do you want to join us?”
They were all seated on the bench near the tree, their bento boxes on their laps.
Minori stood still in front of them, a serious expression still on her face as she quietly thanked whoever was up there that there were only a few people on the grounds.
Haruka, Saki, and Ichika all looked at the brunette, confused about the way her posture was forcibly stiff.
“Haruka-chan,” Minori began, looking at Haruka with the sternest expression she can muster, even surprising Haruka and herself.
“Minori?” the idol dragged out, her brows furrowed as she stared at the brunette.
Minori closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Haruka-chan, I will never give you up and I will never let you down–”
Haruka tuned out the rest of what Minori was saying.
With her mouth hanging agape, she was so sure the rest of her face flamed abright instantly. She heard restrained laughs from beside her as she continued to look at Minori who was still somehow maintaining that stern expression while saying those words.
When Minori finished, she bowed at them, her uncompromising look still unrelenting. She craned her neck and looked to the tree behind them where Shiho was hiding behind, the bassist giving her a thumbs up.
It goes without saying that Shiho’s “no guaranteed success rate” of a flirting result was a total sham when she realized Haruka gave her a small kiss on the cheek not a few moments later.
Yup, Minori realized she approached the right person.