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It was a calming afternoon at the local park, and the prime opportunity to rest one's overworked body. And this is precisely what the infamous Shopping District Quintet sought to accomplish. Sighing individually in shared relief, Tomoe, Saaya, and Tsugumi currently had their tired bodies slumped up against the cool surface of the large boulders.
Tomoe: (panting) Phew! We've worked mighty hard this past couple of days!
Saaya: (sighing) I know what you mean...Ever since we stocked up on new treats for this season, it seems as though we've had more work cut out for us.
Tsugumi, being notably tired, simply grunted and nodded in agreement.
Tomoe: (smiling) But then again, at least we managed to finish our workload for the day...
As the cool breeze calmly picks up the fallen leaves and takes them to and fro, it seems as though nothing could break the calming and immersive atmosphere of the park.
Hagumi: (cheerfully) SHING! SHWING!
Ako: (happily) BOOM! KA-BOOM!
That is, apart from Ako and Hagumi, who still somehow have extra energy to spare, even after the exhausting past couple of days.
After a run in with a certain cheerful balloon-dispensing blonde, Hagumi and Ako quickly found a new and inventive way to blow off some extra steam: balloon swordfighting.
Ako: (in her evil persona) MWAHAHA! Taste the power of Demon Princess's Ako's demonic thunder sword! PSOOOH!
Hagumi: (in her knight persona) Your demonic thunder sword is no match for Sunshine Knight Hagumi's sunny sword swooshes! KACHING! SCHWING!
The pigtailed girl's manic balloon-swooshing was only parried by the equally-as-manic balloon-swooshing of her orange-haired companion, with cries of both support and concern coming from the three girls spectating them. The cries of support mainly came from Tomoe, while the cries of concern mainly came from Saaya and Tsugumi.
While Ako was caught in the groove of parrying the ginger's attacks, a toothy and confident grin stretched across the other girl's face, for she managed to find a vantage point around her purple-haired foe.
Hagumi: (smiling) Take this! Super-Smiley Sunny-Swordy Slam!
Leaping up, Hagumi broke from the parrying pattern she and Ako have been doing for the past ten minutes, and quickly lept up into the air, allowing her yellow balloon to harmlessly bonk Ako on the head, which momentarily took her off guard.
Releasing the balloon sword from her grasp and taking advantage of Ako's confused state, Hagumi took this opportunity to playfully tackle the smaller girl into the grass. Any attempt made by Ako to get back up on her feet was instantly foiled by Hagumi attacking her with pokes and prods to her many tickle spots. A valiant attempt was made by the pigtailed girl to prevent her giggles from bubbling to the surface. But thanks to her older sister snitching all of her tickle spots to Hagumi, the black-clad girl collapsed into a silly little pile of chuckles and guffaws.
As if a victim of Hagumi’s tickle attack, Saaya slightly giggled to herself. Being her childhood friend, Tomoe knew that specific laugh was being triggered by nostalgia. And much to Tomoe’s embarrassment, that usually meant unearthing embarrassing childhood memories involving the two of them.
Tomoe: (confused) What’s up, Saaya?
Saaya: (giggles dying down, smiling) It’s just that…this all takes me all the way back. We would always have fun in this particular spot, just the two of us. Making sandcastles, having tickle wars, playing knight-and-princess, and my personal favorite: drumming on every surface we could find.
The ponytailed girl punctuated the final part of her sentence with her signature drumming noises, which an eager Tomoe was quick to return.
Tomoe: (laughing) Yeah! I definitely remember those days! The days just never seemed to end, when we were together!
In a split-second, Saaya’s facial expression and tone was quick to turn smug and teasy, resulting in the air around Tomoe dropping in temperature, as her fears quickly became confirmed.
Saaya: (smirking) In fact, I remembered one day in particular. How could I ever forget what a teeny-tiny Tomoe told me that day?
Blood quickly rushed to the redhead’s cheeks, as Tsugumi craned her neck in curiosity. Tomoe knew that even someone as angelic as her would love to hear embarrassing stories regarding Tomoe as a kid.
A very impulsive and very stupid kid.
—----------------------
(MANY, MANY YEARS AGO)
Filling the park with the rapid creaking of metal, two young girls were having the time of their lives on the park’s swing sets. In contrast to Saaya’s more controlled swinging, Tomoe’s was far more energetic and wild. The redhead has been practicing a brand new stunt that would sure to knock the socks off her friends.
After gathering enough momentum, Tomoe let go of the swing, sending her flying forward. Her sneakers kicked up the playground’s sand in long and flowing streams, and left a long skid trail in their wake. Luckily, Tomoe managed to stop herself before she hit any of the playground equipment (she still has a bandage on her nose from her last failed attempt), and managed to partially submerge her feet in the sand. The child smiled and giggled with pride at her successfully-pulled-off stunt.
Tomoe: (cheerful) Hahaha! Did you see me, Saaya? Huh?!
Looking back to where her friend was, Tomoe noticed that Saaya’s posture was slumped and her face was downcast. In fact, it seemed as though something heavy was weighing down on Saaya’s mind, like some twisted anchor. Sensing her friend’s somber mood, Tomoe quickly dug herself out of the sand, got back up on her feet and rushed over to the young brunette, kicking up more sand in the process.
Tomoe: (concerned) Hey! Heeey! Is everything alright, Saaya?
After waving her hand in front of Saaya’s face for a couple of seconds, Saaya finally looked back up. For a split-second, Tomoe could see tears threatening to run down Saaya’s face.
Saaya: (momentarily snapping out of it) Huh? Oh! O-Of course I’m fine! See?
Stretching her face out into the best smile she can manage, the brunette hoped that she could deceive her redheaded friend. However, all it took was one look at Tomoe’s doubtful expression for Saaya to see just how ineffective the fake smile was.
Tomoe: (frowning) C’mon, Saaya! I’m your friend, so I can tell that something’s on your mind! What’s going on?
Getting back onto her swing, the young redhead gave her friend a sympathetic look and an easy-going grin. Saaya’s head hung back down, as she started to speak.
Saaya: (looking down) Well…I-It’s about Mama’s new baby…
Tomoe: (immediately concerned) What?! Are they okay?!
Saaya: (waving her hand, reassuring) No, no, no! Mama and the baby are both doing just fine! It’s just that…
Saaya: (looking down, tearing up) I just wanna be there for them…at all times…and…what if I mess up…a-and something bad happens to them…I-I just wanna be a good sister…what should I do, Tomoe?...
Staring at the crumpled-up and despondent form of Saaya, Tomoe quickly racked her brain for the right words to cheer her up, if just for a bit. She may be an older sister herself, but Ako and Saaya’s future were of different ages, so she was currently at a loss of how to comfort Saaya.
But something about seeing her normally cheerful friend this miserable lit some sort of fire in her heart, as she quickly disregarded the mental racking that she attempted to perform, grabbing the sides of Saaya’s head and forcing her downcast face to look her in the eyes. The sheer passion of the moment prevented the redhead from realizing the sheer intimacy of this gesture.
Tomoe: (forcefully) Now, listen to me, Saaya! I’ve known you for AGES now! And I KNOW that you are one of the sweetest sweethearts in the whole entire district! You always know exactly what to say to cheer up the other district kids! You always patch up their boo-boos and give them bread from your bakery! The way I see it, your sib is in good hands! So no need to feel so down!
After wiping away some of her tears, Saaya quickly flashed her Tomoe a smile and lept off the swingset with a peppy spring to her step.
Saaya: (smiling) You’re right, Tomoe! I shouldn’t be letting that sad inside voice bother me!
Tomoe: (smiling back) Y’see? I knew you’d understand! You’re, like, the most dependable and nicest person I know! In fact, I’d really like to marry you!
At this moment, it was as if the world was set to the “pause” option.
The brunette barely knew how to react to Tomoe’s proposal, which she just casually tacked on to the end of her praise, as if it was something normal to admit to another girl. Saaya’s cheeks quickly gained several shades of pink and coherent words refuse to leave her now-agape mouth.
Saaya: (taken aback) ….W-W-Wha…
As if a cartoon lightbulb went off in over her head, Tomoe gasped with a sense of realization.
Tomoe: (confidently and loudly) Hey! I have an idea! Let’s get married when we’re older, Saaya!
Slapping her cold hands over her now-burning cheeks, Saaya couldn’t help but be taken aback (yet simultaneously flattered) at Tomoe’s gung-ho attitude regarding this hypothetical future marriage.
Saaya: (embarrassed) W-What?! M-Married?! Do you even know what that means, Tomoe?!
Tomoe: (smiling proudly) Of course I do! I’m not stupid!
—----------------------
(BACK TO PRESENT)
After Saaya completed her recollection, a loud and agonized scream erupted from the now-blushing Tomoe and resounded throughout the park, catching the attention of both Ako and Hagumi.
Tomoe: (embarrassed) NGAAAAAAAH! NO WAY I SAID THAT!
Saaya: (smiling calmly, giggling slightly) Yes. Yes, you did.
In sheer desperation, Tomoe turned to the brunette next to her, in hopes that she could possibly bail the redhead out from a lifetime of embarrassment.
Tomoe: (desperate) Tsugu! Please tell me I didn’t just ask Saaya to marry me, all those years ago!
Tsugumi: (awkwardly) Uh, sorry… but you definitely did. In fact, after that proposal, you went out and let all of Afterglow know how much you wanted to marry Saaya. In fact, you even wrote down an entire wedding plan and shared it with us. In fact, Himari still has the paper with the wedding plans on it in her-
Not wanting to hear more, Tomoe cupped a hand over the brunette’s mouth.
Tomoe: (flustered) T-THAT’S ENOUGH!
Rushing over to her sister’s side (as if she wasn’t just ravaged by Hagumi’s tickle attack), Ako was quick to grin happily. Unfortunately, that innocent grin belies the unintentional further embarrassment of her older sister.
Ako: (smiling innocently) Tsugu-chin’s right! Ako still remembers when Sis used to talk about Saaya ALL the time! She still talks a LOT about Saaya now, but she talked about Saaya even more when we were kids! She told Ako about how pretty and nice Saaya was, and how she would invite Ako and Hagu-chin to their wedding! The sheer energy and passion she had when talking about Saaya was just SO incredibly COOL!
Unable to take any more of this embarrassing bombardment, the redhead simply grumbled and buried her bright-red face in her hands, in a desperate attempt to make herself seem smaller.
Tomoe: (grumbling) Grrr…I was so stupid…how uncool…
Offering a sympathetic smile, Saaya patted Tomoe’s back. In response to this gesture, Tomoe peeked through her fingers and looked back up at the ponytailed girl. Saaya has to repress a slight blush from witnessing the adorkable side of her fellow drummer.
Saaya: (calmly) C’mon, Tomoe. You were just a kid, and I could tell that you wanted to cheer me up. Honestly, if it weren’t for that pep talk, that inner voice probably would’ve gotten the best of me.
Saaya’s comforting words allowed Tomoe to uncurl her body and the blush to slowly fade from her body.
Tomoe: (awkwardly smiling) You really think so?
Saaya: (smiling) Yup! In fact…
Getting close to Tomoe’s ear, Saaya couldn’t resist getting one more teasing opportunity, as her innocent smile quickly switched to a smirk, once again.
Saaya: (smirking, whispering) I wouldn’t mind taking you up on that marriage offer…
Whether due to overwork or embarrassment (on second thought, definitely the latter), Tomoe lost consciousness, much to the shock and confusion of Tsugumi, Ako, and Hagumi.
Saaya: (giggling awkwardly) Hehehe…too much?