Chapter Text
Zira was in trouble.
Not the usual kind of trouble, where she got caught watching anime in class or skipped gym to avoid embarrassing herself in front of the athletic kids. No, this was worse.
She was crushing. On. Aika.
And it was ruining her entire day.
It wasn’t like Zira had planned to fall for the first friend she’d ever made.
She was supposed to be showing Aika around town, letting her experience normal high schooler things like food courts, movie posters, and overpriced arcade games.
Aika wanted a normal life? Zira was going to give her one, at least for a few hours.
But then Aika had to go and be herself.
She was currently pressed up against a claw machine, eyes wide with pure, unfiltered wonder.
Her hands were splayed against the glass, and her golden hair mixed with black glowed under the neon lights, making her look almost otherworldly.
Zira gripped the straps of her hoodie, trying to hold herself together. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no.
“Ohhh,” Aika breathed, tilting her head at the stuffed animals inside. “Do you think it actually works?”
Zira blinked. “Uh. What?”
“The machine,” Aika said, completely serious. “Can it really grab the toys? Or is it just an elaborate human deception?”
Zira almost laughed. “I mean, yeah, it can grab them, but it’s kind of a scam. They make the claw all weak and flimsy so you spend more money trying to win.”
Aika gasped like Zira had just told her a terrible secret. “Humans are ruthless.”
“Yeah, welcome to capitalism.”
Aika frowned. “What’s capitalism?”
Zira’s brain short-circuited. She was not ready to explain the horrors of economic systems right now. “Uh, it’s— you know what? Here, just watch.”
She quickly fished a token from her pocket and fed it into the machine. The claw came to life with a mechanical whir. “You just gotta line it up juuuust right…”
She maneuvered the joystick, aiming for a round, fluffy cat plush near the edge.
When she hit the button, the claw descended, caught the plush in its grip… and immediately dropped it.
Aika gasped again, this time in horror. “The betrayal continues!”
“Yup. Told you. Scam.”
Aika turned back to the machine, eyes burning with newfound determination. “Then I will conquer it.”
Zira wanted to tell her that’s not how it works, but Aika was already digging through her pockets for coins.
And Zira? Zira was too busy watching her with the kind of stupid, hopeless fondness that made her want to punch herself in the face.
This is bad. This is SO bad.
She could not have a crush on Aika. She would not.
Aika was the first real friend she’d ever had. The first person who didn’t think she was some weirdo loser for liking anime or staying inside at lunch to read manga.
She actually wanted to be around Zira.
If Zira messed this up—if she got weird and clingy and ruined things—she’d be alone again.
And she couldn’t handle that.
“Zira,” Aika said suddenly.
Zira jolted. “Huh? What?”
Aika held up the cat plush, eyes sparkling with triumph. “I have conquered it.”
Zira blinked. Wait. What.
Sure enough, the cat plush was in Aika’s hands, looking like it had been freshly liberated.
Zira glanced at the machine. The claw was still open.
“…Did you just reach in and grab it?”
Aika tilted her head. “I saw an opportunity.”
Zira groaned. “That’s literally stealing.”
Aika looked at the plush, then back at Zira. “Then I have conquered crime as well.”
Zira slapped a hand over her face, torn between laughing and losing her mind.
This girl is going to be the death of me.
And the worst part?
She was already falling harder.
The rest of the day didn’t make things any easier.
Everywhere they went, Aika was staring at everything with wide-eyed awe, experiencing the world like a magical girl seeing normal life for the first time.
Which, technically, she was.
She nearly lost her mind over an escalator.
She got distracted by the giant, colorful slushie display at the food court and then almost choked when she took a too-big sip of her own.
She clapped for a literal commercial playing on one of the mall TVs.
And every time Zira looked at her, she had that same realization punching her in the gut.
I like her. I really, really like her.
And she could not like her.
Not if she wanted to keep her.
By the time the sun started setting, Zira was emotionally drained.
The two of them sat on the edge of a fountain, their bags full of snacks and prizes from the arcade.
Aika was holding the cat plush in her lap, absentmindedly squishing its face.
“This was fun,” she said softly.
Zira swallowed. “Yeah?”
Aika nodded. “Thank you for today. I think… I understand a little better now. What it’s like to be normal.”
Zira didn’t know what to say to that. She wasn’t even sure if she knew what it was like to be normal.
But the way Aika said it, like it actually meant something—like Zira had given her something—made her chest feel tight.
“You don’t gotta thank me,” Zira mumbled.
Aika turned to her, smiling. “I do.”
And Zira, idiot that she was, melted.
She was so, so doomed.