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Another day. Another practice session.
Haruka truly feels as if she’s hit her limit.
Now, don’t get her wrong! She loves all of her idolmates, her fellow streamers. They’re her best friends (them and An), so obviously she’s supportive of whatever they wish to do, so long as it isn’t illegal. Truthfully, even then, were they not of notable stature to the public world she would fully encourage Airi’s tendencies to wish death on whatever poor sap decides to annoy her on any given day.
Normally, that is.
With the sight she’s currently being forced to witness, she’s starting to think every single injustice Airi (self-proclaimed) experiences is deserved.
“Sh-Shizuku, please! I ca-BAHAHAHA!” This was supposed to be a practice session. Supposed to be. Rather than anything involving dancing or singing or even brainstorming stream ideas, Airi was currently immobilized on the school rooftop, stomach relentlessly attacked by Shizuku’s deft fingers, both giggling like a couple of dumb lovebirds. Apparently the pink idol was ticklish! Haruka’s starting to think that could come in handy.
The ‘lovebirds’ moniker wasn’t even truly off; it was clear to everyone that knew either second year idol that they were madly smitten with each other, almost infuriatingly so. It was infuriating in the worst way. Both were somehow convinced the feelings were one sided, it seemed; and yet, they acted the opposite of platonic!
Normally, this would not be the worst. Unfortunate, yes, but the two were already rather affectionate with each other. She’d trust they would find their way eventually, seeing as they’ve already said things that might as well be confessions of love to each other.
But the single worst part?
It was all of the damn time.
Practice quite literally cannot go through without at least one airy ‘Airi-chaaaaan!’ followed by a rather intense amount of cuddling, or tickling, or hugging, or- what have you! Everything was possible. Anything and everything. Shizuku, without fail, always initiated. Airi, without fail, always conceded because Haruka doesn’t think she’s ever seen a more pathetic bottom in her life. And she’s seen Minori just as much.
But of course, she would never impede on her friends’ love lives. Pre-love lives? She doesn’t know. She’ll just pray something happens about it because they desperately need some order back in their unit.
As it turned out, the future would prove her oh so wrong. Oh so mad.
---
Exhibit A:
The unit had revisited the penguin cafe Haruka oh-so-loved on another day off, free from the need to present themselves for the camera. As such, Airi lazily slid down in her seat, heaving out a sigh. “Guhhh… who’s idea was it to walk all the way here? Did we forget how far away this place is from literally anywhere else we ever go to?”
Shizuku giggled in response, lovingly patting Airi’s forehead. “Oh, don’t be like that, Airi-chan. It’s exercise! And besides, anytime I get to spend with you-”
She spread her arms out wide.
“-And all of you is time well spent!”
Thank god, Haruka silently thought. Airi just grunted in response.
Just as she distracted herself with the overwhelming relief, a waiter came by with their orders.
And ‘orders’ in this case actually means two rather large parfaits. Minori seemed to vibrate at the idea of sharing a parfait with Haruka, which the blue idol only rolled her eyes at. She cared more about the cute penguin cookie decoration on top, which she delicately put her spoon under and held toward herself.
“Ohh… it’s so cute… I almost don’t want to eat it!”
Minori nervously chuckled, before taking a small spoonful for herself. “H-Haruka-chan… do you plan to preserve it…?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I? This little guy is a national treasure. I can’t simply end its existence.”
Minori blinked. Only a second later, a giddy giggle broke them out of their odd trance. So, making her first mistake of the day, Haruka turned her head to the side.
In hindsight, the sight was to be expected.
Shizuku had already taken a rather large dollop of whipped cream onto a spoon. Rather than eat it like a normal person, however, she had taken on the dubious mission of trying to jab it into Airi’s mouth. Haruka witnessed a rather odd exchange of thrusts and dodges.
“C’mon, Airi-chan! What’s wrong with some whipped cream? Don’t worry, today’s a cheat day!”
“Everyday is a cheat day at this rate! And I can eat it myself!”
Her words made Shizuku pause, a frown visible on the idol’s radiant face. Airi tolerated the sight for all of less than a second.
“Ugh, fine…” With a rather pathetic display, Airi faced Shizuku for good, glaring her down with a reddened face. “Just… make it quick, alright?! I can’t stand doing this for very long…”
Her mouth open, Shizuku’s pupils seemed to light up at the very sight. They were brighter than the way any one of them shined on stage. With a measured, precise motion, she propelled the spoon into Airi’s mouth at an excruciatingly slow speed. After what felt like forever, the shorter idol closed her mouth on the spoon, before Shizuku slid it out. She was positively beaming.
“So? How was it? Hey, do you think feeding each other can convey your feelings?”
“It wa-HUH?” Airi coughed, recovering with little grace. “Well, yes, it was fine, but-! You don’t just SAY that!”
A blank blink was all she got in response. “Say what? Oh! Hold still!” Without so much as a warning, Shizuku reached forward with a finger extended. It tenderly brushed against Airi’s cheek with the subtlest of touches, catching a stray tuft of whipped cream that got there from the previous battle. Without an ounce of hesitation, Shizuku stuck it into her mouth. Once more, her smile was blindingly bright. “Hehe, the whipped cream really is good! It’s almost as sweet as you are, Airi-chan~”
Haruka stared on in utter disbelief. So did Minori and Airi, apparently. There was… no way Shizuku did that without an ounce of self awareness, was there? Right? She can’t be…
Upon looking into Airi’s widened eyes and flustered face for a little too long, Shizuku finally, finally registered her recent crime. Her face exploded in crimson, as both idols turned back to their parfait.
Haruka sighed, quiet enough for nobody to notice. At least it can’t get wo-
“Hey,” Airi decided to use her vocal chords again, voice uncharacteristically quiet and demure. “Do you… want me to feed you a bite too…?”
Shizuku beamed immediately, fervently nodding. It was here that Haruka made her second mistake, taking a bite out of whatever her spoon contained in a thinly veiled frustration over too many aspects of that interaction to list.
The moment she heard the crunch of the poor penguin cookie’s untimely demise, both her and Minori gasped with a sort of grief neither had ever truly experienced before that day.
---
Exhibit B:
Haruka, Minori, and Airi were on their way to school, having decided to have gone together for the sake of it; there was a convenient enough point before them to meet, anyway. Unfortunately, early kyudo practice meant Shizuku was already there. At least, unfortunate for Airi; ashamed as she was to say it, Haruka felt a sense of relief that she could spend time with one of the two without the other latching onto them like some koala.
“Say, Haruka-chan,” Minori spoke up, looking to the sky in some form of thought. “Your class had a math test recently, right? Ichika-chan seemed kinda sullen over it the other day…”
A small grin came to her face. “Oh, yeah. I got a 95. I do feel bad for Hoshino-san and Tenma-san, though. They both told me, nearly teary eyed, that they studied together the night before but somehow managed to completely miss brushing up on one of the topics.”
“Aha…” The shorter idol scratched her cheek, nodding. “She said something like that… missing a subject in math, though? I’d fail for sure! I get their pain…” She gasped loudly, as if she had a horrific revelation. Haruka and Airi turned in concern. “WAIT! Does my class have one too?! Oh no! I went to the bathroom during math yesterday! Shiho-chan and Kohane-chan would never forget to tell me… right?”
A pause. Immediately after, an unnaturally sized cloud of dust was kicked up and trailed into the distance, Minori already running off and away.
“I’MGOINGTOGOMAKESUREIDONTHAVEATESTBYEEEEE!”
Haruka and Airi could only stare into the dusty distance, abandoned. Airi looked as if she broke into a cold sweat, ready to say something, yet the words got clogged up in her throat. Haruka raised an eyebrow, confused, before she turned forward and saw…
… Shizuku?
It was Shizuku alright. She was still in her kyudo garb, hair tied up, for some reason neither of the other two could ever fathom. She excitedly waved with both hands, despite already being right in front of the other two.
“Hello, Airi-chan, Haruka-chan! I tried to say hello to Minori-chan but she ran away…”
Airi shook her head. “Don’t worry about her. More importantly…”
She strode up to the archer, forcefully poking her chestplate. “What are YOU doing here? Weren’t you in kyudo? You WERE in kyudo! You’re literally in the outfit!”
Shizuku looked dumbly down at her own attire, seemingly as surprised as everyone else was, eliciting a cute little gasp. “Oh, I am! Well, our club teacher had to leave early! Asahina-san stayed behind, but I decided I wanted to see you guys! So I found you!”
“... And you forgot to change?”
“Yep!”
She said that so earnestly Haruka couldn’t even judge anymore.
“Okay, well,” Airi pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling slowly. “Other than the miracle of you finding us,” Shizuku instinctively gave a thumbs up. “You couldn’t have just waited? Like a normal person? AND you forgot to change in the process?!”
Shizuku seemed to shrink at the words, but she recovered just as fast. Instead, she diverted the conversation elsewhere, flinging her ponytail over her shoulder in a gesture that Haruka thinks was intended to be innocent. “Say, Airi-chan!” The lack of addressing Haruka was telling to say the least. “You don’t normally see me in a ponytail outside of practice! Say, how does it look?~”
Airi backed off in response, face growing red. “You dummy! I already saw you in one at the photoshoot, remember? This isn’t anything special!”
“Oh yeah!” Shizuku giggled, undeterred. “Well, have you ever actually seen me at kyudo? I still have the uniform on, so…”
Airi blinked. She scratched something in her pink mane, sighing. “No, I guess not. Sure, I’ll bite. Want me to lead us back to school?”
“Wait!” Before Airi could do anything, Shizuku stepped forward. “I wanted to try something! You saw how fast Minori-chan ran, right?” Airi nodded, gulping. “Well…”
Without so much as a warning, Shizuku lunged forward, trapping Airi in a bridal carry. The pink one gaped in shock, steam likely coming out of her ears. “I wanted to complete the whole dashing image I have going on! The tied hair, the suit, the beautiful girl in my arms…”
Haruka raised a finger to correct Shizuku on her current attire, but it was in vain. Airi succumbed, leaning her head forward into Shizuku’s shoulder. “... Fine. Do whatever you’d like.”
“Okay!” Without even an ounce of hesitation, Shizuku sprung back to the school, sprinting at a respectable pace considering the entire person in her arms. Airi could be seen latching on just an ounce tighter.
…
And there Haruka was, completely and utterly abandoned by all of her unitmates. She felt like a mother whose children had all moved out and left her behind alone in this cruel world. She took in deep breaths; in and out, in and out, in and out…
Shakily breathing out, she shook her head. No. She WOULDN’T snap. She wouldn’t bash Airi and Shizuku’s heads together until they finally kissed. She wouldn’t disband the unit over a couple of clueless lesbians. It would be fine, it would be fine. It had to be…
---
Exhibit C:
Things were NOT fine.
It was during practice that very same day, in fact; Minori did have a math test that day that Kohane helped her cram for, and to Haruka’s knowledge the older idols did take a trip to the kyudo area. Haruka can only hope they didn’t disturb anyone else present with their PDA.
The unit was taking a standard break; Haruka leaned against a wall, stretching, while Minori desperately scrounged for the last drop of water in her thermos like she was in a desert.
Haruka then made her biggest mistake of all;
Looking at Airi and Shizuku.
Shizuku was taking a big gulp out of her thermos of miso soup, as one does. And Airi- well, there were other issues going on there. The girl had been off-kilter all practice long, not unnoticed by Haruka or Shizuku. The reason was far too obvious; whatever in the world the morning’s events were, they disoriented her. Haruka has to wonder just how down bad you have to be for that to happen.
“Airi-chan!” Despite being right next to her, being called to by Shizuku made Airi jump in her spot. She turned to look at the taller idol. “Have you been okay? I think you’ve been off all day today…”
The questioned one fervently shook her head, as if it helped her case any. “N-No! I mean yes! I’m fine! Really…”
Shizuku didn’t look convinced in the slightest. Instead, she held her thermos forward. “I know! How about you have some of my soup?” She was being incredibly earnest, completely genuine, fully well meaning, and yet Haruka immediately noticed the issue.
Of course, Shizuku had drank from that very same thermos less than a minute ago.
Airi noticed this too. She wearily pointed at the damned thing. “But you… already drank from it, Shizuku…”
Shizuku dumbly looked at it, before shrugging. “What’s the issue with that? It just enhances the flavor for you, Airi-chan!”
“B-W-H- WHAT?! ”
Despite this indignation, Airi grabbed the thing and took a massive swig out of it, relinquishing it with a satisfied sigh. She turned to glare at Shizuku. “There! You happy now!?”
Rather than have her shame catch up to her as it really should have, Shizuku happily giggled, like she had struck gold. “Hehehe~ Now I have Airi-chan’s flavor on my thermos! I’m truly so lucky~”
Airi made a choked noise. So did Minori. Haruka wanted to choke Shizuku, meanwhile.
It didn’t take long for practice to be called off early for the day, Airi essentially unable to function like a human being. Her and Shizuku left together first, Shizuku having decided to take to the duty of lugging her around again.
“U-Um… Haruka-chan…?” Minori slowly inched her way toward her idol, most likely feeling the aura emanating from her. “Are you, um… you’re not mad at Airi-chan and Shizuku-chan, are you…?”
Haruka looked at her and smiled. It was an empty, hollow smile, devoid of any real meaning.
“Minori. Sometimes, people get violent urges. And sometimes, it takes an insurmountable strength to prevent those urges from taking over.”
“U-Um…”
“If you weren’t around I’m not confident that thermos wouldn’t have become a murder weapon.”
Minori dutifully nodded without a word, before scurrying off to home.
Haruka really, really needed to vent to someone.
---
“An, I’m going insane. ”
And vent she did, making a detour during one of her usual morning jogs to visit WEEKEND GARAGE. It was a pleasant surprise for An, who judging by her previously droopy expression, expected today to be thoroughly boring.
She knew today would be juicy, too! Haruka only ever gets pancakes drowned in syrup and whipped cream when she really needs a mental boost.
“Damn, I’ve never seen you this upset over something that barely even concerns you. You jealous?” The waitress prodded at Haruka’s shoulder, an insufferable grin on her face.
Haruka met her with a dead eyed stare. “No. Quite literally everything you just said is wrong.” She took in a deep, deep breath… “I’m not jealous. More importantly, it concerns me very badly. We can’t even go through practice without something ridiculously sapphic going on between them! More times than not Airi’s left at half capacity afterward, too. If those two idiots just acknowledged that yes, maybe the other one wants them and yes, feeding each other whipped cream from a parfait and drinking miso soup from the same thermos and then stating that the other one’s ‘flavor’ is on it now is romantic! ”
An could only blink in the aftermath, Haruka slumping down in defeat. An made a rather oblivious thinking gesture. “You know. Maybe things are worse than I thought…”
“ Yes, An. They’re so much worse than I could ever describe.”
An shrugged, slumping back in her seat. “I mean… I kinda understand them.”
Haruka felt her eye twitch.
“I mean, I’m like that with Kohane all the time! The other day during practice, she took a MASSIVE gulp out of a water bottle and immediately offered it to me! Sure, yeah, it seems romantic, but we’re just the best of gal pals! Though, I think Akito gave us this really judgemental look-”
A second later, An felt a bone-crushing force on her shoulder.
“-Kinda like what you’re doing right now!”
The grip strengthened, An’s arm threatening to be snapped off. “An? I’m never speaking to you ever again. Farewell.” Haruka got up, abandoning her seat and paying the tab before swiftly exiting the building, each step a quake that broke down the building’s foundation more and more.
Wincing at the way her shoulder felt like pudding, An looked around at the empty cafe before quickly making it her newfound duty to polish off Haruka’s half-finished plate.
---
Thankfully, all it took was a phone call later for Haruka and An to reconcile. Or, well, for Haruka to decide she’d ignore An’s sins. At least they don’t torment Haruka on a daily basis.
The next day, as the idol was on her way to practice, she felt an odd sense of foreboding ascending the stairs. It wasn’t just foreboding; she could hear laughter. The kind of laughter you only have when you’re with the love of your life. Haruka cautiously opened the door, only to see precisely what she expected.
Airi and Shizuku laying down with each other like a couple of goofballs.
Haruka had more than half a mind to brutishly step outside and shatter the moment, but then she saw Shizuku’s hand tenderly guiding itself to Airi’s face, the lightest of touches gracing the other’s cheek.
Thinking better, Haruka continued hiding, still observing. Technically, practice hadn’t started, so they aren’t taking up time… and besides, maybe they’ll finally realize they’re both idiots!
The idea seemed like a joke to Haruka at first, but then she just barely spotted the sight of Shizuku’s LIPS on Airi’s cheek. The pink one was red up to her ears, but in response she just turned her body over and completely covered Shizuku’s in it. Haruka’s eyes widened, as she looked away with a hand over her mouth.
Did they do it? Did they do it?! Is she free from this personal hell?! Will Airi FINALLY be able to focus during practice?!?!
Well, this doesn’t exactly stop practice from being interrupted. At least it’d be reasonable now.
A weight of malice lifted from her heart, Haruka waited for the actual lovebirds to finish up, before finally entering the scene. Today was finally a good day, she was hoping.
---
Late that night, Haruka was taking the time to do some homework, bulbous penguin plush held close to her chest. It was then that she got a text; rare at this time of night, unless it was Airi. She had a tendency to stay up later than she should, after all.
Picking the device up, it sure was her. Haruka opened the message…
Airi: hey enas a dumbass so im asking you instead. do u think kisses between friends can be platonic? cuz shizuku kissed me on the cheek today and ive been debating all day what it means im at a loss
All of the light left Haruka’s eyes in an instant. Without an ounce of hesitation, she hit the call button. Airi picked up immediately.
“Oh, uh, hey!” She nervously chuckled. “You know, we were just texting, you didn’t really need to-”
“Fuck you.”
Without so much as waiting for Airi’s response, Haruka hung up and dug her face into her plush, screaming several profanities that would never be heard by anyone else. Airi, for her part, was utterly flabbergasted for several minutes.
The path to love is a tumultuous road. And sometimes, it isn’t even the ones in love who go through the most.