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The last thing that Airi remembered was seeing red.
Then, she was on the floor, her fists ramming against the goddamn bitchass Cheerful*Days member that looked at Shizuku like that-
“Airi-chan! Stop- please, stop-”
She vaguely registered arms attempting to pull her off of the other person, but the voice telling her to stop felt far away, and she brushed her off, only paying attention to the person who was desperately trying to defend herself by batting her arms away, but Airi’s experience in combat, however performative, was much greater.
She swung her hands downward, anywhere she could reach, rage boiling in her chest that was now overflowing in each strike of her fists, a blazing feeling that burned like standing in the center of a flame. An image of the girl’s face flashed through her head, and she swung with just a bit more vigor.
She felt something crack underneath her fist and heard a satisfying cry of pain.
Suddenly, she felt someone tackle her and she fell to the floor, away from the person she was attacking, and growled, reaching up and smacking the person in an effort to get out from under them.
“Airi-chan, stop!” The voice was far away, but familiar. She shook the thought away, hissed and readied herself to attack again.
“Stop!”
Her vision cleared. Shizuku was hovering above her, a desperate expression on her face, restraining one of Airi’s fists with one of her hands by the wrist. Her other hand was sunk into Shizuku’s cheek.
Airi blinked.
“Shizuku?”
Shizuku smiled, although it looked strained. She slowly helped Airi sit up, and Airi looked over at the other girl, who was clutching a bloody nose.
Good, Airi couldn’t help thinking.
Shizuku tugged Airi to her feet and dragged her offstage, into their dressing room, pulling her over to the sink and pushing her onto a stool.
“Airi-chan- Airi- you’re going to be in so much trouble-” Shizuku whispered worriedly, forehead creased. She pulled Airi’s hands towards her and examined them, looking over the knuckles which had split open sometime during the fight.
“Worth it.” Airi replied smugly. Her heart loudly rattled in her chest, and her chest was heaving from exertion, but to her, indeed, it was absolutely worth it.
Shizuku brought her hands under the faucet and turned it on, cool water running over her hands and washing away some of the blood that may not have all been her own. She hissed as the water hit her cuts, but the water slowly warmed up, and then Shizuku began carefully wiping the cuts with a clean towel.
“Airi-chan, you didn’t have to do that.” Shizuku said, a little desperately. “Not for me- really, you’re causing trouble for no reason-”
Airi glared at Shizuku, sharpness in her gaze.
“And what if I didn’t? You’d just let her insult you like that?” Airi snapped.
Shizuku, bless her kind heart and soul, nodded. “I don’t want to cause trouble for anyone. You shouldn’t either.”
Airi was about to respond when Shizuku dipped her head and pressed her lips to Airi’s hand, and all of the tension and adrenaline that had built up within her faded into nothing with Shizuku’s soft touch. Her eyes fluttered shut.
“It’s really nothing to get so worked up over, so please apologize? For me?” Shizuku pleaded, clutching Airi’s roughened hand in between hers, squeezing it tightly.
When Airi didn’t respond, Shizuku brought her hand back to the sink, rubbing soap and water over the cuts. With the warm water running over her hand, she was able to fully relax, and she began to comprehend the pure idiocy of punching another idol in front of several producers. She exhaled a long breath.
“I don’t want to apologize.” Shizuku’s face fell at that. “But fine. I will.”
Shizuku brightened up, immediately tugging Airi into another hug, draping herself over her with the whole weight of her body. Airi yelped in surprise but was able to catch Shizuku in her arms, bringing her close and pushing the ribbons on her collar aside with her nose, nestling into the ruffles of Shizuku’s costume. If she listened closely, she could hear Shizuku’s heartbeat, a little faster than it usually was, and Shizuku’s steady breaths.
“Airi-chan, we have to go apologize now.” Shizuku mumbled. “For us, and for Minori-chan and Haruka-chan.”
A simple, impulsive decision like the one Airi made would definitely have extreme, detrimental effects on the reputation of the group as a whole. As much as she hated to admit it, Shizuku was right. She should probably apologize as soon as possible.
“Fine.”
Airi began to pull herself out of Shizuku’s arms but was tugged back in, Shizuku nuzzling into the crook of her neck.
“In a few minutes.”
Airi shut her eyes tightly. A few more minutes, huh? It probably wouldn’t hurt.