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While their troupe would usually make full use of the time they had during the weekend, this Sunday called for an early end to rehearsal. Emu watched the clouds move in over the park, promising heavy rainfall in minutes, if not seconds. She’d waved goodbye to Nene and Rui not long ago, and Tsukasa had disappeared to go ask her brothers something.
She could go home by herself, but…maybe she could wait out the storm here? Her family likely wouldn’t be getting home until later anyway.
As she hurried to grab her bag, a voice boomed across what felt like the entire park, calling her name. Tsukasa was sprinting toward her at an impressive speed, and a smile spread across Emu’s face. “Tsukasa-kun! I thought you’d already left! Did you tell my brothers hi for me?”
Tsukasa gave her a baffled look as he caught his breath. “You can tell them hi yourself in a few hours! For now, we’re going home before the storm gets too bad.”
We? “Oh! Oh, are you coming over, Tsukasa-kun?” An unbridled joy took over her as she took his hand and started running. If they were super fast, maybe they could stop by the taiyaki shop on the way home? The raindrops hadn’t started falling yet, and they both had their umbrellas, and —
“Wait, at least let me open my umbrella!” At Tsukasa’s pointed look, she opened her own, smiling at the little ducks wearing rain boots that decorated its surface. Tsukasa’s was large enough to fit more than one person under it — and clear, so they could see the rain begin to splash against it.
“Can we go get taiyaki now?” she asked as they set off again. Warm anko in her belly would be the most wonderhoy thing in a storm, second only to her friend’s company! Realizing she still didn’t know what had prompted Tsukasa to accompany her, Emu turned to start walking backwards so she could face Tsukasa. “Did you go to my brothers so you could walk me home? Are you actually staying, or are you busy…?”
She realized once again that she had missed spending time with Tsukasa, with how much he’d had on his plate lately. But she’d already decided she wanted to support his dream no matter what, after everything he and the others had done for her and Grandpa’s park, so it was okay! Tsukasa had a weird look on his face, though, as if he’d been sprayed with cold raindrops.
“I’ll be staying until your family gets home,” he said, surprising Emu. “And yes, that is what I asked your brothers about. Now face forward so you don’t trip on the sidewalk!” He looked like he had something more on his mind, but she didn’t get a chance to ask as he quickly turned her around with one hand. When she looked up and realized Tsukasa had been leading them toward her favorite taiyaki shop, she grinned and tackled him, almost knocking their umbrellas together.
After an exchange about how many bags of taiyaki they could carry and a rushed walk in pouring rain, they arrived in the safe and warm Otori home. Their shoes had ended up unfortunate victims of the storm, but Emu figured they would dry well enough on their own. She quickly split one of the taiyaki in half and bit in, relishing the warmth that still remained.
Tsukasa placed his bag next to hers once he’d stepped inside. “Was there anything you wanted to do?”
Emu finished chewing before she started going through the list. “We could watch that movie Nene-chan recommended, and write down ideas for a new show that Rin-chan and Len-kun asked for, and…” A memory from school surfaced in her mind, in which Saki-chan had talked about how her brother had helped braid her hair before her band’s concert. “Tsukasa-kun could braid my hair!”
“Hm? I’d be happy to, but where did this come from?”
Emu explained as she pulled Tsukasa to her room and sat down. “I know Saki-chan has longer hair than me, but I think Tsukasa-kun could still make it super pretty!”
Tsukasa let out a laugh as he posed with a hairbrush, brandishing it in the air. “Meeting such high expectations is no issue for a star! Turn around, and we’ll get started.”
They chatted about their shortened rehearsal as Tsukasa gently worked his fingers through her hair. The thunder sounded distant as they sat under the bright lights of her room, and Emu couldn’t keep her smile off of her face. Tsukasa-kun sounded happy too, only making a disgruntled noise when they went on to the topic of the new improvements Rui had said he’d made to the Star Training Suit.
His movements slowed after a brief lull in conversation. “The reason I asked to accompany you home. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t go with you and Rui and Nene to that restaurant that day, when I had to practice for my workshop.” Emu’s heart squeezed at the memory of the melted ice cream star, but Tsukasa continued. “I realized I should not miss out on time with cherished friends, and I wanted to make it up to you.”
“Tsukasa-kun…I understand. I’ll keep supporting you even when you’re busy, and especially more then! And we’ll still have lots of time to hang out together, right?”
Tsukasa stood and held out a hand to help her up. He led her to the mirror, and she hoped he didn’t notice how tightly she was holding onto his hand — or how her eyes glistened as she returned a soft smile to the star standing behind her.