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To Emu Ootori, Mafuyu Asahina was a whole other being compared to her other friends. Her other friends’ smiles always seemed to be real, as if they truly were happy, but Emu knew deep down Mafuyu was never as happy as her or her friends. Her suspicions were confirmed when the members of Mafuyu’s group told her about the true Mafuyu.
It was as if after that, Emu calmed down around Mafuyu. She wasn’t as scared as before, rather being as friendly as she was around everybody else. Though, the other girl didn’t know Emu had heard about her true self, keeping up her fake smile, still scaring her a bit sometimes.
..Though, it was now Emu’s life mission to make Mafuyu truly smile even more! No matter what it takes!
At Miyamasuzaka, it was lunch period, and Emu was running around the rooftop, a quiet Mafuyu watching her closely as she ran around with food in her mouth. It was weird how Mafuyu enjoyed her time with Emu, ever since the Sports Festival, she seemed to want to get closer to her and it seemed as if Emu shared those feelings.
Though, until recently, she had an aura around her that she was scared of her. She didn’t like it at all. Was it how she acted? But her worries went away when Emu suddenly changed, starting to feel the same way Mafuyu felt- though, Mafuyu would never admit to herself that she enjoyed something other than the things she was supposed to. She would never admit how, out of everyone, Emu was special to her.
Emu stopped in her tracks, choking on the food stuck in her throat. “Gah!” She spat out her food, stumbling back down to her seat next to the other girl.
“Awh.. that was a good bite, too!” She whined out, staring blankly at the piece of food on the ground. Mafuyu let out a chuckle, watching Emu regain her strength to stand up.
“You need to start being more careful, Ootori-san.. You worry me sometimes.” Mafuyu admitted, picking at her food as she let the words spill out of her mouth. “Especially during your shows at Phoenix Wonderland. Although, it is mainly.. Tenma-kun, was it, doing the dangerous stuff..”
“Oh! Asahina-senpai, don’t worry! Rui-kun makes sure we are compleeetely safe! If an accident happened, we would be in big trouble..” Said Emu, as she stood back up and smiled at Mafuyu.
“If you’re sure.. Try not to run around with food in your mouth, you could choke… again.” Emu nodded in response, taking another bite of her food and looking off at the sky. It was cloudy and cold, not particularly the best day to eat lunch out on the roof, but Mafuyu couldn’t decline an invitation from Emu.
“Ah! Asahina-senpai! I just remembered why I asked you up here. Uuumm, I was going to tell you that I’m gonna come to your archery practice soon! Since you came to my last handball practice, it was so fun I thought I would go to yours this time!” Emu said, getting real close to Mafuyu’s face. Mafuyu flinched, leaning back a bit.
“Ootori-san.. Really? Thank you. I can’t wait to see you there.” Mafuyu regained her composure, the sudden close of distance making her freak out a bit. She wasn’t sure, but all she hoped was that Emu didn’t notice.
Oh, Emu definitely noticed. She backed up, smiling widely as the bell rang. “I’ll see you later, Asahina-senpai! Bye-bye!” Emu waved to her, grabbing her bento box and sprinting off. She was certainly the same old Emu.
Mafuyu was worrying about something, deep down that she kept trying to shove away. She must not think about herself. She must focus on her studies. But it was hard, when this kept eating at her.
She decided not to allow her feelings to take over her mind again, instead standing up and quickly taking her leave to her class. There was a quiet greeting between Mafuyu and her classmates as the class started.
The sound of an arrow hitting a target was heard as the door creaked and Emu walked out into the archery area, watching from far behind as Mafuyu shot at a target with a blue haired girl by her side. They were having a quiet conversation, but as hard as Emu tried she couldn’t decipher their shared words.
Emu snuck up behind Mafuyu slowly, catching the attention of the other girl- who she recognized to be Shizuku, a girl in the same school as them, and Mafuyu’s friend and fellow club member. Shizuku didn’t say anything, only giving a greeting of a smile to Emu.
Shizuku went silent, allowing Emu to jump onto Mafuyu, grabbing onto her shoulders and heaving herself up. Mafuyu dropped her bow, the sudden touch shocking her as Emu smiled brightly with her face right next to the confused Mafuyu’s.
“O-Ootori-san?” Mafuyu’s voice faltered, her eyes flickering from the now forgotten bow on the ground to Shizuku and then to Emu. “I promised! Emu never lies!” Spoke Emu, as she hopped down from her perch which was Mafuyu.
“You’re right.. I completely forgot, I’m so sorry..” She picked up her bow, smiling at Emu. “It’s not very fun watching us do archery, but you can stay as long as you want.” Despite her fake, plastered smile, it was quite obvious how Emu’s sudden touch always flustered her.
“Yay! Alright!” Emu was jumping up and down as Mafuyu turned back around, her grip on her bow slightly less stable as earlier. Shizuku pointed it out, Mafuyu brushing it off completely.
Emu sat off to the side, her hand deep in a bag of chips as she watched Mafuyu, her eyes sparkling. “Waaah, Asahina-senpai! You’re so cool!” She cheered her on, causing her aim with her bow to falter. God, she didn’t understand. Why did Emu do this to her? What was it? She was so, so confused.
She put her bow down, shooting Shizuku a look before walking off without a warning. Emu was confused, but was reassured when Shizuku sat down next to her. “She just went to use the bathroom. Don’t worry, Emu-chan.”
“Aaaah, okay… She was so cool with her bow! Did you see her? The way she can hit the middle of the target like it’s nothing! I feel like no matter how hard I tried, I could never compare to Asahina-senpai!” Emu rambled on about Mafuyu, Shizuku smiling at her and allowing her to go on.
“Asahina-san is a pleasure to be around. I enjoy doing archery with her, and I even think she’s cool! I’m glad I was able to make it to practice today.” She said, with a bright smile still on her face. “What do you do in your free time, Emu-chan?”
“Well, I do shows at Phoenix Wonderland with Rui-kun, Tsukasa-kun, and Nene-chan! Maybe you’ve come to see us! I do swimming, dancing, and handball too! Asahina-senpai came to my last handball practice! It was so fun, I just had to come to her club practice!” Emu seemed excited as she talked on and on, Shizuku humming in acknowledgement.
Their conversation ended when Mafuyu opened the door, spotting the two sitting on the bench and chatting. She gave them a smile before walking back over to her bow. A silence was shared between the three as Shizuku watched Mafuyu herself with Emu.
The bell rang, signifying that their archery practice was over. Mafuyu sighed as she put her bow back down and looked over at the two girls. “We have to head to class now. It was nice of you to come today, Ootori-san. I hope it wasn’t too boring.”
“Nonono! Not at all! You were so cool! You should teach me one day!” Emu stood up, running over to face Mafuyu. “Can I come next time? And the time after that?”
“If you really want to. It’s always around this time, usually once or twice a week. I’ll.. ah, Ootori-san, could I have your number? I can text you when we are having practice.” Mafuyu said, and Emu nodded, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. ..Why did Emu always have everything she needed on her?
Mafuyu shook it off, quietly accepting the paper and shooting Emu a smile. It still sent a shiver down her spine, though she quickly brushed it off and smiled back. “Text me after school, Asahina-senpai! Okay?” She hugged her tightly, then ran off out of the archery practice room.
A light red tinted Mafuyu’s face as she ran her hand over it, catching Shizuku’s attention as she stood up and put their bows back in place. “You seem to act a bit different around Emu-chan, Asahina-san.. Unless I’m wrong?” She questioned, a small smile on her face as she walked over to Mafuyu.
“As far as I know.. I act the same around everybody?” She muttered, sighing quietly. “Practice was fun today. Thank you as always, Hinomori-san.”
‘is this ootori-san? this was the number on the paper.’ Mafuyu texted Emu after getting home, finally able to let down her “good girl” persona after talking with her mother. She was supposed to be studying, but instead she sat at her computer, the Nightcord server up on it while she had Emu’s messages open on her phone.
The sudden sound of a notification made her jump a bit, realizing it came from Nightcord. She opened up the notification, seeing it was a dm from K.
‘Hey, Yuki. Could we talk about something? It’s nothing bad, just something I noticed in the lyrics you wrote.’
A pit formed in Mafuyu’s stomach as she read the message, quickly responding with a simple ‘sure.’ What was there in Mafuyu’s lyrics that was so different from before?
She shook her head, closing out of Nightcord and opening up her notes, hoping to get some studying done that night. She set her phone down and pulled out her textbook.
….
‘ASAHINA SENPAI!! YES YOU HAVE THE RIGHT NUMBER HII’
Mafuyu picked her phone back up, the nervous feeling in her stomach dissipating as she opened the message.
‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING! I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU IF YOU ARENT BUSY :D’
Emu had a surprise for her? There was no way this was good news. Mafuyu knew how dangerous things could turn out if anyone let Emu take the reins on something.
’i do have to study, but it depends on what it is.’
She reopened Nightcord to no notifications from K, placing a hand on her forehead as she looked back down at her phone to see Emu’s chat bubble pop up again.
‘COME TO PHOENIX WONDERLAND OK!!’
“Phoenix.. Wonderland..?” She said, her eyes flickering from Emu’s text bubble, to the clock, to her door. … Who was she to decline Emu? She could come up with some excuse for her mother, plus, she was kind of curious.
She quickly texted K, telling her that she would be out, and put her jacket on.
Emu waved at a shivering Mafuyu as she walked up to the gate of Phoenix Wonderland, giving Emu a thumbs up to open the gate.
Emu seemed just fine, despite the fact that she was wearing her stage outfit she didn’t seem cold at all. She seemed really excited.
“Asahina-senpai! Heyheyhey!” She greeted her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the park. Mafuyu gave her a smile- oh, so weird, it was terrifying even in a place like this.
“What’s your surprise for me, Ootori-san..? I don’t have much time, my mother expects me back home in an hour or two.” Mafuyu said, her arms wrapped around herself as she followed Emu throughout the park until they reached the stage that Wonderlands x Showtime performs on.
“I’m gonna make you smile! For real, this time!” Emu’s words made Mafuyu’s heart drop. For real? Like, she knew? Shit . Her act wasn’t good enough, so Emu could pick up on it?
Her mind was racing. This wasn’t a normal response.. she didn’t react like this when she told N25 about her problems.. so why is she so worried now? “Ootori-san, um.. What do you mean? I always smile. Genuinely” She let out a half-assed chuckle, making Emu wince.
“No! That’s not true!” Emu looked concerned now as she pulled herself up onto the stage, Mafuyu sitting in one of the seats in the crowd. “I heard about everything! So, I’m gonna make you smile! I promise!”
Everything. She heard about everything. Mafuyu felt her breathing get shallow as Emu kept talking, but she blocked out everything she said… What was she going to do? Emu knew now, but.. Mafuyu had only ever smiled because of Nightcord. And she was still confused on why she felt that way, and how she could have smiled because of it..
“Eeehh.. Asahina-senpai! Snap out of it!” Emu said, snapping her fingers in Mafuyu’s face. She had a distressed look on her face, the state of Mafuyu concerning her. Mafuyu had her arms tightly wrapped around herself, the light in her eyes gone. She realized there was no point in keeping up the “good girl” act anymore.
“Ootori-san, there’s no point… You really don’t need to try.” Mafuyu choked out, clawing at her sleeves. Emu sat down next to her, holding onto her arm. “I know I can make you smile! Please believe me, Asahina-senpai!” She tugged at it, trying to pull her hands off of her sleeves.
“...No matter how hard you all try, I still want to disappear. I’m not going to ask you to try and save me.” Mafuyu said, and Emu shook her head, holding the hand she was able to grab. “I’m going to anyway! I knew something was up, but really… You can’t just stay like this, Asahina-senpai! You’re my friend, and I want everybody to smile! A genuine smile!”
There was a shared silence between the two as Emu gripped her hand tightly. They were both confused by each other's states, Emu never seeing Mafuyu so distressed, while on the other hand Mafuyu had never seen Emu so serious.
Mafuyu found herself relaxing in Emu’s touch, as she wrapped her arms around the taller girl. It felt weird. She was so calm, though she had never been held by anybody like this.. Not since she was a child. It seemed like the cold she felt from before faded as Emu embraced her.
She had this feeling in her chest. It was disturbing. It was warm, and she seemed so calm.. When was the last time she ever felt like this? Not even K’s songs were able to get so close to her heart.
Emu held her tight, seeming to calm down herself. It had been a long day, she was simply so, so tired…
The sudden cold morning chill woke Mafuyu up, realizing where she was and who she was with. The shock from it made her jump, waking Emu up as well, with her arms still wrapped around the other.
“Aahhh, Asahina-senpai… I’m so sorry!” Emu said, Mafuyu covering her ears, shocked how she can be so loud in the morning. “I just fell asleep, and.. Your parents are probably so worried!” She shrieked, and Mafuyu covered her mouth with her free hand,
“Don’t worry, Ootori-san.. It’s alright… If anything, I should be sorry for blowing up on you last night. …Could we pretend that never happened?” Mafuyu’s face was bright red, attempting to look away from Emu who was still so close to her. That feeling was still there, and she still didn't understand it. It was just so foreign.
“I can’t just forget! I promise.. The day that I make you smile WILL come!” She looked into Mafuyu’s eyes as she let go of her. The sudden loss of warmth made Mafuyu shiver, but she just shot Emu a smile.
…Oh. It wasn’t going to work on her anymore. The smile quickly faded into her normal expression of emptiness, and Emu frowned at her.
“I have to go back home.. But! You have my phone number! Text me any time, okay!? I’ll see you at school Monday!” Emu seemed to be in a rush, giving Mafuyu a big hug before running off, out of the park.
“...Ootori-san…” Mafuyu muttered to herself, and she turned her phone back on as a distraction. As expected, frantic texts from her mother, and many from N25 for not logging onto Nightcord that night.
‘Yuki, I know you’re out, but you didn’t log onto Nightcord tonight so I’m going to assume you either got distracted or had to go to sleep. I wanted to ask, about these lyrics. Is there any sort of new feeling you’ve been experiencing lately? You know I want to try and figure out how you’re feeling. And I know the best way is by having you put it into a song.’
…A new feeling?
K was right.
Her lyrics understood her more than she understood herself.
“Asahina Mafuyu, what were you thinking? You couldn’t have told me before?” Spoke Mafuyu’s mother, giving her a scolding. Mafuyu had told her that she forgot to tell her she was going to be spending the night at a classmate’s house.
She believed it, but Mafuyu still got a scolding. She kept her head down as her mother spoke on and on about how Mafuyu needed to tell her about these things first. She gave her the occasional ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘I’m sorry’ until she was satisfied.
It was all so irritating. Why did she have to deal with it? With her mother, with figuring out her feelings, with school.. God, how she all hated it.
She really wished she could stay in SEKAI with Miku forever.
…Maybe going to SEKAI wasn’t a bad idea.
Good. When Mafuyu entered SEKAI, all the people around were the Vocaloids. She found herself walking over to Miku, tugging at strands of her hair as she waited for her to notice her standing there.
“..Mafuyu.” Miku said, quietly greeting her and offering for her to sit down next to her. She was playing cat’s cradle, her eyes not shifting away from it.
“Miku. I have something to talk about. I feel like.. If I asked anybody else, it would turn out bad.” She spoke in a voice that was monotone, normal for Mafuyu when she was in SEKAI. A quiet hum came from Miku as an indicator for Mafuyu to continue talking.
“Kanade said.. That in my new lyrics, it sounds like… maybe I’m experiencing a new feeling. And I think she’s right. But it’s confusing. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt this way.” Said Mafuyu, itching at her neck, a normal habit she formed in middle school. It used to be much worse, leaving Mafuyu bleeding, but she learned to keep it under control.
“Kanade showed me your lyrics. I think I can agree with her. She suggested that maybe.. You love somebody?” Miku looked up from her cat’s cradle game, to look at a wide-eyed Mafuyu.
…She knew Kanade and Miku were somewhat right. But she was confused. Why did she feel this way? Why was it…
Why was it Emu who she felt this way about?
She had never loved before. She was still confused. This warm, fuzzy feeling she got when Emu got close to her or touched her, the way she felt like.. Maybe things would get better when Emu was around, was that love?
“Miku, what do I do? I don’t get it at all.” Her tone sounded panicked as she got closer to Miku, Miku dropping the yarn in her hands to put a hand on the other girl’s shoulder.
“Think it through, Mafuyu. Don’t be impulsive. That’s all you can do here.” Miku said, letting go of her shoulder when she felt Mafuyu’s body relax a bit.
“...Okay. Thank you, Miku.” She felt a pit in her stomach forming again, unsure of what to do. She decided she would take Miku’s advice.
…
That night, when she logged into Nightcord, there was a silence between the four of them.
“Miku told us.” Ena blurted out, and Mizuki sounded offended at Ena’s sudden action. “You weren’t supposed to tell her!”
“It’s fine. It would have gotten out eventually.” Mafuyu’s voice was as monotone as usual, though her mind was racing. Accepting the fact that she had these feelings now was weird, and she hadn’t texted Emu all day. Too much was on her mind.
“So, do we get the honor of knowing who the special girl is? We’ll help you out!” Mizuki said, and although their webcam was off, Mafuyu could hear the smirk in their voice.
“...Try not to pressure her too much. Miku told us about how you panicked in SEKAI.”
Mafuyu winced at Kanade’s words, ashamed that Miku was sharing that with the other N25 members. She knew that wasn’t the worst they’ve seen her, but it still upset her a bit knowing how vulnerable she was to the others around her.
She brushed it off, and sighed. “It’s Ootori-san. From my school. From.. Wonderlands x Showtime.” She gave them a fake smile after saying her unit name, and watched the shock spread across Ena and Kanade’s faces, hearing Mizuki drop something from their mic.
“Emu Ootori?” Said Kanade, smiling at the camera after the shock. “When did this happen? You gave me the lyrics about a week ago..”
“I.. honestly don’t know. I’m still confused about my feelings. It was hard to accept it in the first place. I don’t even think she feels the same way.” Mafuyu said, her chin resting on her hands as she looked straight into the camera.
It always put the other members off how unsettling Mafuyu was when her camera was on, the way she deadpanned at the camera and how her voice always was monotone, compared to how it was around others.
“...Emu knows the truth. I heard that a certain group of people told her. And I’m not mad. But..I broke down in front of her last night. She invited me to Phoenix Wonderland, and told me that she was going to make me smile. And just.. I lost it.” She muttered the sentence near the end, and her head twisted around when she heard her door creak, quickly closing out of Nightcord.
“Head to bead, Mafuyu. I love you. Don’t forget about your test on Tuesday.”
“Ootori-san. Good morning.” Mafuyu greeted Emu as she walked into the archery practice room, but this time it was just the two of them, since Shizuku couldn’t make it.
Mafuyu was worried this was going to happen, and she tried to keep her cool.
“Asahina-senpai! Good morning! You didn’t text me at all this weekend!” Emu’s voice was whiny as she sat down on the bench, pulling out her bag of candy.
“I’m sorry, Ootori-san.. I was so busy it slipped my mind.” That was a lie. Mafuyu lost all courage to talk to Emu on her own accord, her feelings becoming too overwhelming after realizing them.
“Well, now we can hang out at school!” Wait, Emu wanted to hang out with her? “Sure. As long as my studies aren’t overtaken, we can.” She said. Oh, why was she being so stupid?
There was a silence between the two as Mafuyu shot at the target, and suddenly the pink haired girl broke it.
“Since Hinomori-senpai isn’t here, can I try out her bow?” She said cheerfully, smiling at a disturbed Mafuyu.
“If you let me help you. It’s dangerous for beginners to use a bow in an uncontrolled environment.” Said Mafuyu, following Emu as she picked up Shizuku’s bow.
She wrapped her arms around Emu, trying to help her into the correct position to hold her bow. What she didn’t notice was Emu’s expression, her face about as bright as her hair.
“Sooooo… cool….” Emu whispered, looking up at Mafuyu. She brushed her hands up against Emu’s, flinching a bit at her own action.
“And so, now that you’re in position, you pull back like that.. and let go.” Mafuyu said, backing up from Emu. She watched the happy girl try her best at it, shooting a bit below the target.
“I did it! I shot a bow! Asahina-senpai, you look so cool when you do it, maybe I can become as cool as you!” Mafuyu’s mind blanked at the comment ‘you look so cool’, her hand covering the red tint on her face.
The bell rang, signifying it was time for class.
“Thank you, Asahina-senpai! I’ll be coming next time too! Teach me again!” Emu spoke before running off, leaving Mafuyu with her thoughts.
And it was the first time Mafuyu had ever skipped class.
“You should confess.” Mizuki said, this time with their camera on as they were unboxing a package.
Mafuyu shook her head, sighing at them once again. “I doubt she feels the same. Just because she said I was cool doesn’t mean she has romantic feelings for me.”
“Mmh, and what if she does, and you miss your opportunity?” They said again, looking back up at their camera.
“…Would we be able to stay friends if I confessed to her and she doesn’t feel the same?” She pulled at a loose bit of hair, thinking about the possible scenario where Emu did feel the same.
“Of course! Ootori doesn’t seem like the type of girl to like.. get mad, and hate you, or something.” They muttered the last part, seemingly struggling with something.
“…I will, then. But if it goes wrong, I’m not gonna be happy.”
And so, Mafuyu Asahina gained the courage to confess to her crush.
Emu sat at the rooftop at lunch, wondering why Mafuyu was late. Normally it was Emu who came late, but it was worrying her how Mafuyu still wasn’t there.
There was the quiet creaking sound of the door opening, telling her that Mafuyu finally came. Though, she seemed a bit different.
Something about her was off as she sat with Emu, digging into her lunch without saying a word
“Asahina-senpai! What’s wrong?!” She blurted out, tugging onto the purple-haired girl’s sleeve.
“Nothing’s wrong, Ootori-san. What makes you think that?” There was a shake in her voice. Yup, Emu knew something was up.
“You always chat with me during lunch! And you avoided me earlier! Did I do something wrong?” She whined, clinging tightly to her arm now.
Mafuyu let her facade drop, giving up on the attempt.
“Uh.. Yeah.. Ootori-san, I’m sorry for acting like that.. I was just.. preparing for something.” She stuttered out, looking away from the girl who seemed so close to her face.
Emu tilted her head, as if she was like a dog. “For what? I want to know! Pleaseeee tell Emu!”
There was a silence between them as Mafuyu pulled out a note, handing it to an unsuspecting Emu.
“..Really?! You really feel this way about me too, Asahina-senpai!?” Emu yelled out, setting the note down and smiling up at the other girl. Mafuyu could’ve sworn she felt her heart stop, whether it was from the too or how.. cute Emu looked.
“I.. I do.. It’s weird. I usually don’t feel anything.. but it’s been such a different feeling, I couldn’t ignore it forever..” Her words came out as stutters, trying to not look at the girl next to her.
Emu let out a cheer, suddenly standing up and jumping around.
“Do you.. really feel the same, Ootori-san?” She muttered out, hoping Emu heard her.
“Yes! Yes yes yes!” Emu said, grabbing Mafuyu’s hands and getting face to face with her. She was smiling widely, her pink eyes mesmerizing to Mafuyu.
If she ever had to look at one thing again for the rest of eternity, Mafuyu decided it would be Emu’s smiling face.
She didn’t really process what happened until after she did it, but Mafuyu found her resting a hand on Emu’s cheek, their lips brushing together as she tried to gain the courage.
Though it was Emu who closed the gap, and the kiss was gentle, the vanilla taste from Emu’s taiyaki still on her lips. Mafuyu could feel her smiling as she pulled her closer, their hearts both racing from the sudden contact.
Emu pulled away, her face dusted pink, about the same color as her bright hair. The color that Mafuyu only now realized how much she adored.
Before either of them could say a word, Mafuyu pulled her hand away from her mouth, and looked up at Emu.
She was smiling. She was actually smiling . Because of Emu.
“Thank you, Ootori-san. I.. love you.”