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"...eh?!"
Ren squeaked like a guinea pig upon hearing the news Rika had brought her.
"Yeah, cool, right?! I was able to actually get my hands on not one, but two tickets!"
"B-but why are you inviting me to go with you? I don't know a-anything about indie rock..."
"Why? Because it'd be fun, that's why! You told me you didn't have anything planned on Christmas Eve, so when I saw that I could go to the show with you, I clicked my heels in joy! Literally! Emiri-chan was there, you totally could ask her, I know she saw me!"
"...wouldn't I be boring to go to take to such a lively place?"
"No way! You practically SCREAM heavy metal rocker angel girl! All the guys would be gawking at you! The girls too!"
"Ah...I don't know..."
Rika, with exciting fervor, grasped both of Ren's quivering hands in her own, fitting one of the two tickets into her grasp. Ren blushed.
"Pleeeeeeease!? Think of it as a Christmas present to my number one bestie!"
"Um...well, I...I do think it'd be fun to do something together on...Christmas...hai."
"YEEEES! You're the best, Ren-chan! I'll meet you at the train station around 5!"
Rika flashed a radiant smile before skipping out of the classroom. Ren could swear her beating heart could be heard echoing throughout the now empty class. She was definitely charmed. Ren could never figure out what Hinano meant when she mentioned Rika's charm was only rank IV; to Ren, it felt like an XX.
"Haah, so you two are really going on a date, huh? Lucky!"
Hinano was cooking something in the lab again. Some kind of love potion, again. The results were going about as well as all the other attempts, with nasty black smoke billowing out of the vial.
"N-no...um...it's not a d-d-date, we're just...it's um, a Christmas present," Ren replied with obvious aversion to what Hinano was hinting at.
"You know what you have to do, right?"
"Wh-what?"
"You HAVE to kiss her! It's a sure thing on Christmas Eve! Couples all over Japan kiss their lovers a-"
"R-R-Rika-chan and I aren't!!!!!!!..."
Ren, face redder than a Fragment of Expectation, shouted in denial with little effect.
"Ren, let's face it, when Rika asks someone to go to a concert, or a movie, or ANYWHERE really, with her on Christmas Eve of all things, what else could it mean? Now's your chance!" AH!"
Hinano accidentally poured a bit too much chemical into the vial, causing an eruption of nasty gunk shooting straight to the ceiling and sticking.
"Ahhh, dammit! Anyway, my Giga Love Potion EX can wait, I have bigger problems right now! You!"
"H-hai...um, I'm sorry..."
"Don't worry about it, I don't have a date anyway. As usual. This was just for New Year's, so I got time."
"B-but..."
"No buts! I know you two, you both are always making googly eyes at each other. Rika never shuts up about how cool and nice you are. Trust me on this, I'm a natural Cupid when it comes to others."
"C-can I say something, Hinano-senpai..."
"Yeah?"
"I-I don't know anything about the kinds of bands Rika-chan likes...or what the c-concert will be like."
"So?"
"I-isn't that bad?"
"Well, one, I like how you've stopped denying that you're crazy in love, and two, nah, it doesn't matter at all."
"U-um..."
"Listen up, girl! This is Hinano's Love Lesson - Lecture XM: when a girl asks the girl she likes to go to a concert with her, that can only mean she's expecting the night to end with the two of them becoming OFFICIAL. Romantic confessions in the snowfall! Holding hands! The works! I'm getting angry just thinking about iiiiiit!!!!"
Hinano kicked the desk.
"OW!!"
Ren mustered a giggle.
"O-okay, senpai...I'll t-try to be...a good date for her..."
"That's the spirit! Now, here's my idea..."
It was 5 PM, Christmas Eve. Kamihama had been in the middle of a warm stretch, and snow had yet to fall that winter. As such, Rika wore an outfit from her fall attire: a light pink jacket and gray leggings. In addition, she decided to wear a new white beret with fake holly she bought for Christmas, hoping it would look good in the snow. She awaited her date with excited anticipation, bouncing up and down on her toes in front of the station. A little after 5:07, she spotted a white-haired angel hurrying her way. Ren wore her usual casual winter clothes, but with a new twist Rika had not seen before: in place of her blue-patterned dress and tights, she had on a black t-shirt and jeans, and in place of her fluffy winter boots, she had on tennis shoes. Rika thought the outfit clashed a bit but smiled nonetheless at Ren's obvious attempt to prepare for the location they were going.
"H-hello, Rika-chan," Ren muttered, slightly out of breath.
"Hey! You look totally punked out! Awesome!"
Rika winked and jabbed Ren in her arm. Ren flinched slightly and began fidgeting.
"I-is it okay? I'm not familiar with this kind of thing..."
"Okay? You upstaged me for sure! Like, I totally look like your normie gf you, the expert rocker girl, decided to take to your party, hahaha!"
Ren blushed and looked away from the angel before her. Rika wasn't being fair.
"Anyway, let's go! If we get in a little early, we'll be able to get closer to the stage!"
"H-hai."
The pair arrived at the underground venue. Despite arriving early, a crowd had already formed. The venue was decorated with Christmas knickknacks in ways Ren could tell the owner thought would be cute for the season while still being clever with the general rocker vibe. There was a little plastic snowman hanging from the ceiling with an angry face drawn on, holding little Cosmo Battles brightsabers to represent glowsticks. Ren giggled at the ridiculous toy. She recalled a witch not dissimilar to it that she helped defeat a while ago.
"Over here! That's my favorite spot, you can get a view of the whole stage!"
Rika led Ren to the front left corner of the audience area. She was right: from there, there was a splendid view of the entire stage, including a small peek backstage where the bands would be coming from. The bright stage lights illuminated what would otherwise be a dour and dark den of punk and edge. Ren noticed they stood out somewhat in the crowd, too. There were some regular-looking boys and girls in the audience, some obviously on dates, but the staff and the obvious regulars...well, Ren preferred to pretend they weren't there. It didn't get to her that horribly, though, since she was there with a guardian angel.
"Um, Rika-chan, when you come here, do any of these people, um, make a ruckus or anything?"
"Hahaha, no way! I know these kinds of people look scary to good girls like Ren-chan, but they're all nice people! See that bald guy over there? The one with the muscles? He's how I got these tickets, his friend and their girlfriend couldn't make it tonight, so he had two left ov-hey, he's waving at us! Wave back, Ren-chan!"
The man was massive. This is who Rika-chan hangs out with during her free time?! They were magical girls, so they could easily overpower guys like that, if need be, but still! Ren meekly waved back, and the man smiled before turning back to the girl he was with.
'There sure are a lot of couples here,' Ren thought to herself as she watched Rika bounce in anticipation.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for spending your Christmas Eve here at Stellar!" An older woman spoke into the microphone positioned on the stage. "I think we've kept you all waiting long enough. Let's start tonight's show!"
The crowd roared. Rika as well. She was hopping in place as the first band took stage. Ren recognized the band, as Rika had talked about and showed pictures of them to her. They were her favorite, and why Rika wanted to come here tonight. Ren remembered liking the song of theirs Rika had her listen to. Honestly, the group was out of place here: they were all young girls, only a little older than Ren and Rika, and they all were dressed plainly and not very punk at all. Their music was also pretty lighthearted: the frontwoman was singing a song about being alone on Christmas and pining for someone. It sounded like something a schoolgirl would sing about for sure. As the song progressed, Ren felt more and more into the mood of the venue, and before it was over, she found herself smiling and swaying alongside Rika. Rika was truly enjoying the performance, with her eyes fixed on the stage like the band would vanish into thin air if she looked away. Ren felt the same thing looking at Rika.
"Thank you everybody, that's all from us tonight! We'll see you at the New Year's party, same time, same place a week from today! Thank you so much!" And with that, Rika's favorite band left backstage. The guitarist stumbled over a cable on the way out and made a strange, guttural noise, which drew Ren's attention away from Rika and toward whatever she thought she heard. The frontwoman helped her backstage, giggling something toward her bandmate, and once the pair went backstage where only those in Ren's section could see them, she held her up and kissed her fully on the lips. Ren, feeling as though she saw something truly scandalous, turned a deep red and looked away with the battle settings at 10x speed. Rika wasn't looking; if she was, Ren could only imagine what would happen next. It seems girls kissing is a pretty natural occurrence here? Or are they a secret couple? Whatever the case, there was no way Ren could get Rika's attention and tell her what she saw.
"So, how'd you like them live, Ren-chan?"
"Uh-um, they were really gay-er, great! I can see why you like them."
"I know, right? Like, I don't know how they do it, but their lyrics just scream out the soul of girls like us, know what I mean? They're not even magical girls, so they didn't even wish for their talents! They're awesome!"
"Y-yeah! They were really cool!"
Rika beamed a glorious smile. She was having a very fun time, and Ren was glad.
It was just after 11:30. Rika and Ren walked through the quiet streets of nighttime Kamihama back to the station. It had gotten quite a bit colder since evening. The girls partied pretty hard; after Rika's favorite band, there were five more that came up and performed. Despite preferring the first performance, all of them were enjoyable, and both girls were tired from the excitement, making the return journey take longer to traverse.
"Thanks for coming tonight, Ren-chan. I'm so grateful I got to go with you."
"I had a lot of fun," Ren replied with a smile, "I'm glad I got to experience something new with you. I love learning about you, Rika-chan."
Rika definitely blushed.
"Also, um...I have something for you." Ren reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped box.
"Eh? For me?"
"Merry Christmas, Rika-chan. Thank you for the present."
"Ren-chan..." Rika took the present from Ren's hands. "Can I open it now?"
"Yeah."
Rika did so. It didn't take long. Inside the small, cardboard box, protected by red and green paper, was a guitar pick with Rika's favorite band's logo on it.
"Ren-chan?!"
"Hai...Miyako-senpai told me there was a giveaway at a music store, so I went right after school the day you asked me to go with you, and they had a few left..."
"No way! This is crazy hard to find right now!"
"Y-yeah, um...when I asked the store owner that I needed it for someone very special, they let me have one..."
"Aw, Ren-chan, that's so sweet of you! I love you!"
Rika jumped onto Ren in a forceful hug. Ren could turn into mush at the words Rika just uttered. She was so stunned that she didn't even return the hug for a good seven seconds. Yeah, 100% charm chance.
Ren assumed that thank you hug would only last for what, ten seconds at most? Yet, there they were, mere blocks away from the station, and they were still hugging a full minute later.
'You HAVE to kiss her!'
Remembering Hinano's words, Ren was the first to pull away from the embrace. Rika lifted her head up toward the taller girl, still smiling as brilliantly as ever.
Still smiling.
Twelve seconds later, Rika was still gazing into Ren's eyes.
Ren thought to herself, mulled over the options she had at this moment. Rika's lips were quivering, ever so slightly. Ren recalled the girls kissing backstage. That could be her and Rika right now. Passion swelled up inside Ren, filling her with resolve, and then, at the sixteen second mark of their embrace, she made her decision.
"Merry Christmas, Rika-chan. Thank you for choosing to spend your night with me."
Rika closed her eyes and grinned.
"Merry Christmas, Ren-chan!"
They parted from the hug at last, held each other’s hands, and walked the remainder of the way. Rika's train came first.
"See ya, Ren-chan! Tell your folks I said hi!"
"Bye, Rika-chan! Thank you so much!"
Waving, Rika boarded the train, and Ren watched it leave. She had all the time in the world to spend with Rika now. There was no reason to take things so quickly. After all, simply being alive, with Rika, with all of her friends, Ren had never been happier than she was this very instant.
"Maybe I'll ask her to go with me somewhere, next time. Hai..."
The train was empty save for one blonde, twin-tailed girl standing stiffly, clinging to the railing for dear life. She could not sit, as her body was tense with emotion.
'She really looked at me like that?! I thought she was gonna kiss me! I thought she was gonna kiss me! I thought she was gonna kiss me!!!!'
She held out her hand and examined her present with an expression drenched in love.
'I'm so glad I asked her. She really is just the best.'