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“MinoHaru Livestream,” or so it’s called. Ever since More More JUMP!’s fans had gotten wind of the fact that two of their favorite idols were dating, they had wanted to know absolutely everything about their relationship. Everything .
“Minori, where are you and Haruka going on your next date?”
“Haruka, what are you going to get Minori for your one-month anniversary?”
“Minori, do you think about Haruka when you’re trying to go to sleep?”
Minori had wisely avoided answering that last question, both out of a desire for privacy and a deep-rooted embarrassment. She doesn’t think Haruka will mind - after all, the girl has known about her simpery for years now - but some secrets are just too dark to be revealed.
Airi had eventually gotten impatient with the boatloads of romantic questions people had been asking Minori and Haruka during live streams that were supposed to be for group content, so she strong-armed (read: bullied) them into hosting a live solely to sate the public’s curiosity.
So, now, here Minori and Haruka are, staring at each other. To Minori’s credit, it’s only a little bit awkward.
The task that they’ve been faced with is called “The Question Game.” Apparently, they each have to ask the other three personal questions related to their relationship. If they make it through being completely honest with each other, and they’re both satisfied with the other’s answers, they win. If not, they have to answer three of the most annoying questions from their audience, picked by Airi herself.
Minori is determined not to let it get to that point. She thinks she sees the username of the person who asked the sleep question in the audience, and she’s not particularly eager to hear their request this time.
Airi takes a deep breath. “Your time starts in 3… 2… 1… GO!”
“Minori, do you love me?”
“Of course, Haruka! I always have and I always will.” She pauses to let Airi edit an ‘aww’ noise effect into their stream. “Uhh… it’s my turn now, isn’t it. Um… Haruka, what are your thoughts on the separation of church and state?”
Haruka looks at the camera, a little flummoxed. “Well, I have a few, but I don’t know what that has to do with our relationship…”
“Oh. Right.” Minori blushes and looks down at her lap.
“Maybe try asking me a different question,” Haruka suggests softly.
Unfortunately, Minori’s mind decides that now is the perfect time to go completely blank. She absolutely cannot think of a single thing to ask Haruka that will simultaneously be deep but also not too embarrassing.
Suddenly, her mind flashes to a short video she had watched a while ago, one someone took of a couple of kids from Kamiyama High. Akito and Toya, she thinks. They’ve been to a couple of her performances.
(The video was actually quite strange. It had been posted by some anonymous user who generally only posts about robots and theater, so it felt quite out of place on their channel. Nevertheless, it was entertaining, so it spread fast.)
Anyway, in the video, Toya had asked Akito if… what was the question? … if he’d still love him if he was a worm. Akito’s response, after some intense roundabouting, had been a heartfelt yes.
Minori still thinks that’s somewhat weird. Why would anyone want their partner to be willing to love a worm? If Minori turned into a worm, she’d tell Haruka to leave and find someone who deserved her greatness, not a little creature on the floor.
Now that Minori thinks about it, that is actually a great question for her to ask Haruka…
“Haruka, would you still love me if I was a worm?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Would you still love me if I was a worm?”
“Minori, is this from that video that was going around? Of those students from the other high school? You need to spend less time on TooYube…”
“I- it’s a good question, though, Haruka! You should answer it!” Minori is reluctant to admit it, but she actually is very curious to see how Haruka will respond. The pressure is on.
Haruka shakes her head and smiles softly. “Fine.”
“So? What do you think?” Minori questions nervously.
“Well, I have to think about it a little bit. There’s a few factors at play here, and I don’t want to insult you, but I also don’t want to make a hasty decision.”
Minori nods. “Yeah, but it seems really weird to have romantic feelings for a worm.”
“Yes, but the worm is still you, and it would still have your kind heart and soul. If that’s the case, can we really say that the feelings are for a worm? It’s more likely the feelings are for you, and you just come in a worm package.”
Minori’s heart flutters. “You think I have a kind heart and soul?”
“Well, of course I do. I’m dating you, after all…”
Now Minori feels quite stupid. “Ah. Yes! Of course…”
She can’t help the sappy smile that spreads across her face, though, and neither can Haruka.
At least until Haruka snaps her attention back to the matter at hand. “Anyway, back to the worm concern.”
“We can move on and you can ask me another question now,” Minori whispers. She would quite like that, because this worm question is very silly, and she’s eager to divert her attention to something else. It definitely has nothing to do with her being embarrassed about this conversation’s trajectory.
“No,” Haruka whispers back. “We need to go into sufficient detail, otherwise Airi will force us to answer audience questions.”
The girls glance back at Airi, sitting in the shadows behind them with a tranquil smile on her face. Oh, she’d love the engagement boost that would come from letting the audience ask their queries.
Minori really, really would like that not to happen, though.
“Okay, let’s talk more about the worm!”
Haruka smiles again. “Thank you, Minori. I believe that… I would still love you even if you were a worm. It is you, after all, and no matter who you are I think I’d love you.”
Minori’s cheeks promptly turn a flashing neon red. “Haruka… that’s so sweet! I can’t handle it!!”
She jumps off her chair to give Haruka a giant hug, burrowing her face into her shoulder to hide her flustered expression.
Eventually, when she feels like she’s expressed her love and appreciation for Haruka enough (lies. It will NEVER be enough) she returns to her seat and her attention turns toward the question at hand once more.
“Wait. You’d love me even if I was a worm? Ew.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I mean… it’s kinda weird to like a worm, isn’t it?”
“Are you saying you wouldn’t like me as a worm?” Haruka questions, face shifting into a mildly downcast expression.
“NO!” Minori yells out, desperate to salvage the situation. “You are absolutely perfect in any form, worm or human!”
The compliment barely phases Haruka. At this point, she’s so used to Minori’s simpery- er- admiration that this is not so out of the ordinary.
Minori rapidly gets more desperate. She hates seeing Haruka upset. “Haruka, no, I’m sorry! Of course I’d love you even if you were a worm! I’d probably enjoy feeding you leaves and watching you eat them slowly- or- giving you some toys- ahh! what do worms play with?” Minori grabs her phone, frantically searching for information on what kind of food to feed worms.
Haruka giggles, face brightening. “It’s okay, Minori. I know what you mean.”
“AHA! DEAD GRASS!” Minori yells.
Haruka reaches over, taking the phone from her grasp with one hand and grasping her flailing arms with the other. She slides her hand down, taking Minori’s palm into hers.
“All of this worm talk is unnecessary. Minori, I’ll love you no matter what, even if you were a worm, and I know you’d do the same. But this is all pointless, since neither of us are ever going to be a worm.”
“That’s true,” Minori mumbles, reeling from how entrenched she was in the worm discussion. But then, a thought crosses her mind.
“Oh, what if we got a worm as a pet, though? Wouldn’t that be a good idea, Haruka?”
Haruka sighs.