Work Text:
“Thanks again for staying with me, Airi-chan. I’m also not entirely sure how to go over this properly.”
“No biggie, Minori,” shrugged Airi. “As your senior, it is my obligation to help guide you with this type of stuff,” she smiled at the newbie idol. “Besides, it’s really nice to see you all fired up with all your cool new ideas since many of them really appeal to the fans.”
“I have been an idol fan for the longest time so I just understand what our fans are feeling,” grinned Minori.
She doesn’t usually do this since Haruka, Airi, and Shizuku have much more idol experience than her but some sudden unknown occurrence of courage possessed her and made her volunteer herself for planning their next stream.
It was dismissal time and practice was canceled because it was raining. Currently, Minori was inside the 1-A classroom with Airi, who decided to stay behind to help her out. Haruka and Shizuku could not join them as they were somewhere inside the school, possibly doing some committee stuff, Minori concluded.
After a few minutes of exchanging ideas, the newbie idol proposed another one, “Do you think we should do some truth or dare?” Minori put the end of her pen under her chin, furrowing her eyebrows as she looked at her notes intently before glancing back at Airi. “Some of the fans requested we play that game. I think it would be nice if we do it on our next stream. What do you think, Airi-chan?”
Airi groaned from across her and said, “Not truth or dare, please.”
“Eh!?” Minori put down her pen on her opened notebook. “Why not?”
“I have played more than many games on those variety shows I was in,” began Airi. “But that one,” she chuckled, almost spitefully. “Oh, that one game. That’s the worst. Whenever I choose dare, they make me do these crazy things but when I choose truth, they ask these invasive questions.”
Minori figured not to pressure her for more details as she does acknowledge that despite Airi accepting her Happy Everyday persona and the joy they brought other people, she still harbors some complicated relationships with variety shows, and it’s going to take perhaps a while for her to unpack all of them.
Minori hummed contemplatively before she spoke once more, “This has been a good planning session so far but how about we take a break? My head is sort of running low on ideas now.”
“Yeah,” nodded Airi, smiling at Minori. “That seems like a good idea, yeah.”
Minori grinned at her before closing her notebook, leaving her pen inside the pages she just wrote on.
“Ah, wait, Minori,” she called out. “Can I see what you wrote? Just to check if there needs to be some revisions and all. I’ll be quick.”
“Here you go,” Minori handed over the notebook to her. “Let me know if you don’t understand anything.”
After she gave her notebook to Airi, she reached over to her bag from beside her and retrieved two cans of juice. When she looked back at Airi to offer the other one, she was confused with the scowl that was written all over Airi’s face while reading her notebook. She immediately thought it was because the idol didn’t understand her handwriting.
“Airi-chan?” She placed both cans of juice on her desk as she craned her neck closer to what Airi was reading in her notebook. “Is there anything you don’t understand in the flow of the stream?”
“‘Minori Kiritani’? Really?” said Airi, with the most deadpan in her voice that she could garner, also probably a hint of amusement. “Minori, I swear.”
Minori froze in her seat but despite that, she felt the tips of her ears heat up instantly. The first thing she thought of was to act coy, like she doesn’t know anything so she says, “I do not know what you’re talking about,” Minori grimaced at the way her voice cracked as she faced away from the idol.
She then felt a light thud in front of her. She turned back and found her notebook in front of her and Airi’s finger pointing at the scribbles just by the side of their notes from earlier.
“Okay so,” inhaled Minori, feeling her face getting more flustered by the second. “I may have gotten a bit distracted while I was planning earlier.”
“Yeah, I’ll say,” chuckled Airi. “Minori Kiritani doesn’t sound so bad, if I’m being honest.”
“Really!?” Minori put both of her hands in front of Airi’s desk, creating a loud thump, slightly startling the girl in front of her, accentuating that surprise when she put a hand over her chest.
“Do you want to give me a heart attack!?”
Minori giggled apologetically as she retracted her hands, putting one on the nape of neck, before she replied, “Sorry about that, Airi-chan.”
“What do you think sounds better though?” Minori continued as she took the pen on the top of her notebook and opened it, proceeding to write something on another page. “Haruka Hanasato or Minori Kiritani?” she asked, drawing out the words as she finished writing.
Minori looked at Airi excitedly and the other idol does not see the harm in engaging in this conversation.
“Hm, they both sound good,” said Airi, wondering why the actual hell she was answering this. “I think I might be having a bias towards Haruka Hanasato though. I think it flows better–”
“What!?” Minori interrupted her as she looked at Airi, as if she just said the most mind boggling statement of the century. “You can’t do that!”
“Huh!? What on earth are you on about? You asked for my opinion!”
“But I want to take Haruka-chan’s last name…”
Airi only looked at the pouting girl across her incredulously and wondered honestly what prompted her to even dignify this entire conversation.
“I’m not sure what to answer to that,” she merely laughed incredulously as she looked at the idol across her, having such a stern face in the heat of this conversation, which was surprisingly still ongoing.
“I just think taking Haruka’s last name would be cute! Minori Kiritani fits!”
“And I think Haruka taking your last name has a better ring to it!”
Sometimes, Airi thinks certain conversations are beneath her because it does not make sense at all. This was one of them. And what’s worse was that she was engaging with this.
“Come on, Airi-chan,” groaned Minori as Airi scoffed at her. “See my point here!”
“You’re not even making a point!” said Airi while making unintelligible hand gestures. “All you’re saying is you want to take your girlfriend’s last name because you want to!”
“And what would you feel like if your name was Airi Hinomori!?”
“I would feel amazing!”
Airi said it without thinking. Then, the torturously slow realization had come with the silence that engulfed them. She felt her neck starting to get flustered as it slowly reached her cheeks. What’s making this worse was Minori’s smug grin at her, crossing her arms in victory.
“Alright, alright!” sighed Airi, defeated. “You win! I would like to take Shizuku’s last name, okay!? Just like how you would take Haruka’s name!”
The door at the back closed.
She saw Minori crane her neck to the side as her eyes widened. She quickly glanced back at Airi, with absolute and total panic in her eyes, and Airi was so sure that if she did look at what Minori was looking at, something is bound to happen that would make this conversation worse.
“Minori!?”
“You would take my last name, Airi-chan!?”
It got worse.