Work Text:
Shizuku Hinomori walked through the school grounds after archery practice to her locker, cold wind blowing through her blue hair, drops of water falling off the leaves from when it had previously rained, and her shoes dampening from when she'd occasionally walk through a puddle. She opened her locker which was filled with photos of MMJ, her friends, and many photos of Airi, to her books which had been organised by colour, her cat pencil case which had been a gift from Airi so they could match, and strangely, an envelope which she had never seen before.
The envelope had nothing on it besides a small heart and Shizuku's name written in neat cursive, and upon opening it she found a variety of cat, plant and flower stickers. There was also a simple heart necklace with the letter 's' engraved in it, as well as a letter. The letter was written on high quality paper and coloured in Shizuku's favourite shade of blue, as well as a border of snow iris's and snow drops, shizuku's favourite flowers. There were also drawings scattered across the page of various things she liked, and it was clear a lot of thought and effort was put into the letter. The letter read,
"To Shizuku,
There are so many things I want to say to you, but I know if I tried to say any of it in person, I would probably stutter too much for you to understand me, so I wrote it in a letter instead.
Firstly, I would just like to say that whenever I'm with you, it's like all else in the world doesn't matter, and you're all I can focus on. Your flowy soft hair that you hide behind whenever you get nervous (which I find sickeningly adorable btw), your moon-jellyfish blue eyes that sparkle when light hits them at the right angle, your stupid mouth that has made me blush too many times to count due to what comes out of it, and honestly if I had to name every one of just your physical features that are so beautiful it sickens me, this letter would quite literally be never ending.
But I could care less about how you look. What really drives me mad is how kind and caring you always are. No matter how horrible I'm feeling, you always find a way to put a smile on my face, no matter how hard I try not to give in. You're always so calm and collected even when it's so hard to, and that always manages to rub off onto me no matter how nervous I am. Even your sadness is contagious, as I absolutely can't stand seeing you unhappy. Sometimes I really wish I could take all your pain and give it to myself.
I hate that I have so much praise to give you, but you're just so talented it's frustrating. Watching you dance is like listening to your favourite song while walking along the beach or getting so lost in a book you get to the last page and don't even realise 4 hours have past, or being in a comfy bed at night while it's raining and both sides of your pillow are cold. It's so graceful and mesmerizing that it's like I forget about everything and anything else happening in the world, almost as if I'm in a dream. I know you don't usually like compliments like this, but please accept mine because you truly are too beautiful and talented too not comment about it, and I know I sound unbelievably corny right now, but it's 97% worth it if I get to finally say everything I've wanted to tell you for so long now.
Lastly, I would like to thank you for always being by my side all this time. If it weren't for you, I never would have rediscovered my dream of being an idol, and I never would have agreed to teach Minori, resulting in MMJ never being formed. Whenever I am having a bad day, you always know exactly what to do and say to make me feel better. Because of you, I no longer wake up every morning wondering if I even have a purpose on this Earth outside of being comedic relief. Meeting you changed me not only as an idol, but also as a person, and I can't thank you enough. You are the best person I have and will ever meet. You are my idol.
If it wasn't painfully obvious at this point, I am madly in love with you.
I don't know if you feel the same way, but I had to get it off my chest because it was driving me crazy. All I ask is that if you don't feel the same, that this doesn't change anything about our friendship and that you don't think of me as any weirder than you already do.
If it also wasn't obvious, the person writing this letter is Airi."
As Shizuku reached the end of the letter, she stood at her locker in shock for a good 20 seconds trying to process what she had read. Airi... loved her? The Airi she had spent so many rehearsals just staring at, daydreamed about for countless hours, and planned all the dates and gifts she would give her if she could? That Airi?
It must just be a prank... Although, no one else on Earth could possibly know all the small details about her Airi had picked up on. No one could ever write a letter to her the same way Airi could. No one could ever understand her the same way Airi could. Shizuku had noticed that Airi was acting strangely anxious during class earlier that day, surely it couldn't just be a coincidence.
Shizuku put away her things before making her way to Airi's house as fast as she could. It had begun raining as she was hurrying in a what felt like a much more dramatic manner than it probably was, but she didn't care. After ages of telling herself that Airi would never like her back, she was proven wrong in the best way possible.
As she arrived at Airi's house, she immediately rang the doorbell, and it wasn't long before a certain pink-pigtailed girl answered. Upon seeing Shizuku, she seemed surprised and her face turned a shade of crimson.
"S-Shizuku? What are you doing here?" She asked nervously, pretending to have no idea why Shizuku might be there, as she didn't want to get her hopes up.
"Airi, I read your letter, and..." Shizuku paused for a moment to catch her breath so she wouldn't pass out from the combination of lack of breath from running, and also her nervousness. Airi became increasingly nervous every second the suspension grew.
"And I need to tell you that I feel the same way." If Shizuku's heart rate wasn't concerning before, it definitely was now as she confessed something she'd wanted to say for the past few years.
Airi was almost at a loss for words as she processed what Shizuku was saying. "Wait, so... Y-You mean.. You like me back...?"
"Yes...! More than anything. And I have for so so long now, you don't even know...!" Shizuku spoke with every word flowing out on its own. Before she could say anything else, Airi pulled her in for a hug, to which she happily returned. The two of them stayed that way, rain slowly overing them, though it didn't matter as the warmth from each other was more than enough.
"I love you..." Airi Whispered.
"I love you too." Shizuku whispered back.
I'm tired