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Shizuku entered her home with a sigh, letting all the stress and tension in her body melt away as she hung up her coat and changed into her fluffy slippers. Being an idol was gratifying, yes, but it also meant that she was in constant scrutiny of the public eye and that could get tiring. Normally the tiredness would be offset since one of her girlfriends would accompany her but today she was alone. And without the usual interjection of hugs and kisses Shizuku felt her energy drain faster than it should have during any regular day, it was only due to her years of experience in the entertainment industry that she was able to pull through without making a mess of herself. But now that she was home all she wanted to do was take a relaxing bath, change into comfortable clothes, and cuddle with her girlfriends.
“Oh! Shizuku-chan!” Minori called out as Shizuku moved to hug her, reciprocating and melting into the embrace.
“Where's Airi-chan and Haruka-chan?” her voice came out muffled with her face snuggling into the top of Minori’s head.
“Mmm, they're still out.”
“Awh, okay,” she pouted.
“But they should be back soon! I also ran your bath! Oh, but I didn't know which scents you wanted so I didn't put anything in. The water should be good though!”
Shizuku pressed fervent kisses to Minori's temple in appreciation, “Minori-chan..! You didn't have to.”
“It's okay, Shizuku-chan! I wanted to!”
“Mmh, bathe with me?”
“Aghkkuhgsh,” Minori spluttered, feeling her face heat up despite having seen Shizuku undressed and naked many times. “Shi-Shizuku-chan! Uh, um, sure, yea, uhm, mmmghghghh…”
Shizuku giggled, “Mhmm, Minori-chan, don't take too long.”
Minori felt her brain overheat and shut down as she felt her girlfriend kiss her one last time before walking away with such a casualness that nobody would suspect that she had just short-circuited her girlfriend. It wasn’t until Samo-chan barked that she shook herself out of it.
“Thank you Samo-chan!” she crouched down to pet the fluffy boy. “I’m fine now!” Though she had the suspicion that Samo-chan was not, in fact, worried about her and had gotten completely used to his owner’s occasional blue screening. Okay, definitely more than occasional but still! It was probably concerning how often Minori blue screened for Samo-chan to recognize it as normal but how was she supposed to act when her very pretty and beautiful and handsome girlfriends were all suave and affectionate? Like they weren’t all pretty and beautiful and handsome? That’d be outrageous! Well, she could continue that train of thought later because right now she had a pretty and beautiful woman waiting for her.
As she waited Shizuku entered the bathtub, she could feel her muscles relax as she submerged herself into the hot water. Minori was truly a godsend, she had an astounding number of skills which included being able to set water to the perfect temperature for bathing. It was a random skill that nobody knew she was capable of and she could recall when they first realized it.
The group had come home after a long day of practice and what they wanted to do most was relax. Even Minori, who was still unsurprisingly bouncy and energetic, had her energy dampened. It was a testament to the woman’s determination and nature that she kept the conversation going even when they were all exhausted. It was also because of said nature that she offered to run the bath for them, something that Shizuku and Airi hadn’t the energy to refuse. Haruka, however, kept silent. Something the rest of them had picked up on as a sign of just how exhausted she was as well as her way of saying no without actually refusing.
Minori wasn’t one to be deterred though, “Please, Haruka-chan? Just this once! I know that you’re super tired right now so I wanna do it for you! I’ll have you check half-way through just in case it isn’t right! Please?” Then the puppy eyes hit and Haruka was done for, after a little hesitation she nodded and Minori ran upstairs to draw the bath.
True to her word, Minori ran out after a couple minutes to get Haruka. They had all watched as Haruka tentatively put her hand into the water, seeing her eyes brighten and then affectionately bump her head into the crook of Minori’s neck. It was a wonder since Haruka preferred a rather specific range of temperature for her water to be before she could comfortably bathe and it seemed that the energetic girl had hit the range.
Shizuku was called back to the present when she felt the water shifting, her arms reflexively opening up to let her girlfriend comfortably settle herself. She must have either been in her thoughts longer than she thought, boy was that a doozy, or Minori rebooted quicker than she expected.
Minori made herself comfortable in Shizuku’s embrace, leaning her head back to nuzzle into the taller woman's chin.
Shizuku wrapped her arms around her, “You're being very affectionate tonight, Minori-chan.” It's not like she's complaining, it's actually the opposite. After coming back tired and exhausted, what she really needed was to be smothered in affection, something Minori seemed to have picked up on if all the nuzzling had something to say.
“Well I noticed that you seemed extra tired so I thought you'd want cuddles. Wait, do you not want cuddles? Did I read you wrong? I'm-”
“Minori-chan.”
“Hyes?!” she squeaked, it wasn't every day that her air headed girlfriend spoke her name with such conviction. Usually when that happened she was either in trouble or Shizuku was in that weird state of being a little more than half-asleep and not that cognizant but she was very awake right now which meant that she was probably in trouble.
“Minori-chan,” she repeated in a softer tone, having felt the woman stiffen up and wanting nothing more than for her to relax. “You did nothing wrong, in fact this is just what I needed after today okay? You were perfect.”
Minori peeked at Shizuku, “...really?”
“Really.”
She nodded with a sigh of relief, body sagging and held up only by the one behind her. With the reassurance that she wasn't screwing up and making things worse, Minori relaxed into Shizuku again, taking one of the hands settled on her tummy into her own and fidgeting with it. She's always felt that Shizuku's hands were really pretty, her fingers were long and slender and a tiny bit calloused from when she did archery back in high school.
“Shizuku-chan, you have really pretty hands!”
Shizuku in turn took one of her hands and brought it up for observation, “Thank you, Minori-chan! You have really pretty hands too!” Minori blushed at the praise, continuing to fiddle with and clasp their hands in hopes of dispelling the heat rising up to her cheeks.
It wasn't until she felt wrinkles on her girlfriend's fingers that she urged for them to get out of the tub. And as Shizuku was drying herself Minori plugged in the hair dryer, settling herself on their bed to help dry her hair.
Once Shizuku got herself comfortable in front of Minori she closed her eyes and let her girlfriend work her magic. Warm air blew from the machine, accompanied by an equally warm hand running through and brushing her hair softly. Occasionally she felt gentle scritches near her ears and at the top of her head, leaning into the touch and relaxing further as the brunette stifled a giggle. Normally she found drying her hair to be a chore with how long it is but when it was one of her girlfriends doing it Shizuku found herself content, even wanting the moment to last a little longer.
Naturally, Shizuku wanted to return the favor, turning over as Minori passed her the hair dryer. And after checking the temperature of the air she carefully proceeded, carding her fingers through brunette hair and giving her the same treatment she gave.
With the blowing of the hair dryer as white noise, Shizuku continued her ministrations for a while before noticing Minori’s head begin to droop and then snap back up. Chuckling, she turned off the dryer and set it aside on the bedside table before hugging the smaller woman and gently maneuvering her to lie down. Once they were laying down she felt Minori roll over, sleepily placing a goodnight kiss before being promptly pulled down by gravity and letting out soft murmurs. Shizuku felt a smile spread on her face and as she pressed her own goodnight kiss to Minori's forehead her drowsiness caught up and she drifted off.
—
Haruka looked on as her girlfriend posed for the photographer. She had followed Shizuku to her photoshoot to act as support after finishing her own. The staff weren’t particularly surprised when she showed up and let her in without much fuss. After all, only the densest and most oblivious of people would think they were merely close friends even if they hadn’t made an official announcement.
They could have announced their relationship, Minori and Shizuku were particularly enthusiastic about it, but Haruka and Airi had their concerns. Airi had been concerned about the public’s opinion, it was one thing for them to announce being taken and another to announce their lack of straightness, combining them would already be a nightmare for their PR team. But to stack that they were in a polyamorous relationship dating each other? They’d be throwing them straight into hell. And while Haruka had shared those concerns, her main objection was much simpler. She wanted to keep their relationship private and out of the press, and while that meant that they were vulnerable to romance rumors and scandals it also meant that they didn’t have to answer prying questions about their relationship or show their affection on screen. Haruka didn’t mind public displays of affection per se but she greatly preferred to not put her girlfriends and love life under even more scrutiny.
Focusing back on the present, she watched Shizuku model various outfits, finding herself drawn in. Her girlfriend was awfully pretty and she knew it, sometimes that is since it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence to find the beautiful woman accidentally dazzling someone and then cluelessly getting concerned. From her definitely unbiased view as her girlfriend, Shizuku didn’t need to pose since she worked flawlessly with whatever outfit the stylists put her in. But her professional sense understood that it wasn’t just Shizuku that the photographer was capturing but also the product, meaning that there had to be a certain emphasis on it.
It just so happened that for this shoot the product being advertised was a set of jewelry, making the photographer direct her girlfriend to pose with her hands steepled to show off the rings as well as her hands in turn. And her hands were pretty too, every part of Shizuku was pretty but her hands were especially beautiful. Her fingers were long and soft yet held a certain roughness from her time doing archery as well as years of cooking.
As Haruka's thoughts drifted she was surprised by a sudden hand on her wrist. She tensed at the sudden contact but a quick look confirmed that the hand belonged to Shizuku and she relaxed as the taller woman began leading her to the dressing room.
Once inside she sat down on a nearby chair before pulling Shizuku down on her lap. With Shizuku settled, Haruka raised her hand up to press kisses to it. Kissing each finger and knuckle, front and back.
Shizuku sighed as she felt Haruka’s kisses, the soft warmth of her girlfriend's lips against her fingers grounded her. But as they trailed down to her palm and then her wrist she couldn't help squirming from the ticklish sensation against her pulse.
“Ha-Haruka-chan! That tickles!” She felt Haruka smirk before being assaulted with kisses, the barrage making her chest grow warm. And as the younger woman paused before planting chaste kisses on her jaw, Shizuku felt her face flush too. They were still in a public area but Haruka suddenly began showering her in affection despite it. “Ha-Haruka-channnn…” she whined, hiding her face in Haruka's neck.
Haruka pressed another kiss to the crown of her head before pulling away with a smug smirk on her face, “Embarrassed?”
She could only whine again in response, burying her head further into Haruka.
Haruka huffed in amusement as she patted her head, “We're going home soon so let's get you sorted and we'll continue there.”
“Mmh”