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"One, two, three, four, one, two, three – alright, that’s a wrap!" Kanan called out as practice halted for the day. At the shout, almost simultaneously, half of Aqours found themselves dropping to the floor in a tired heap.
Yoshiko, without inhibition, moved to slump her tired body onto Mari, but as if sensing her, Mari rolled away, sending Yoshiko crashing unceremoniously to the ground. Like a domino, Yoshiko, just as she fell, latched a hand onto an unsuspecting You, who, caught off guard and unbalanced, reached for the person closest to her, Hanamaru.
Hanamaru, sensing the danger with her primal instincts but not feeling the gut urge to help, did the most logical thing and pushed You into the pile, completely forgetting that You still had a grip on her shoulder, sending her tumbling with the girl. Poor decisions aside, they ended up in a tangled pile of limbs, pain, and sweat. The loud thud sounded, alerting the more responsible members of Aqours, and as per routine, Dia came rushing toward them.
"Yoshiko-san, honestly, can’t you be a bit more careful?" Dia's voice cut through the tranquil evening air, her tone filled with exasperation and annoyance. She stood with knotted brows and her hands on her hips over the pile. Watching the scene from a safe, scold-free zone, Ruby, Riko, and Chika observed with mild interest. One of the most entertaining parts of being in the group was seeing her fellow unit members get into trouble. Though she would never admit it, when she had the privilege of not being involved in their shenanigans, she could see the appeal. Smiling softly to herself, she thought about just how amazing Aqours was.
"-Sometimes, those two give massive sisterly vibes, don’t you think?"
And then, her smile immediately dropped. Riko looked to her side to study the lazy expression on Chika's face... just how could she say something so blasphemous so casually? Really, Chika had no fear.
“Uuuh, I’m not too sure…”
“What?! But even with the hair! They look like those dark-haired sister duos you see in manga!” Chika beamed.
“N-no, I don’t think they’re a duo per se…” Riko gritted out, praying no one else heard this conversation.
"Seriously, Riko? Then what about you, Ruby-chan? Don’t you think so?"
Riko squeaked and endeavoured not to look at Ruby's reaction.
“Right, Chika-chan? Yoshiko-chan would kill me if I ever said this to her, but it’s really adorable. And I wouldn’t mind if it were true! Having a sister that’s my age? And someone as reliable and pretty as Yoshiko-chan? I’d be blessed… oh, wait, don’t tell her I said that.”
“Is that so…” Riko managed to get out normally. Last time Riko recalled, she got lynched for getting Dia’s attention, but Yoshiko had the student council president all over her, and yet, no reaction?
Huh….
Riko wasn't sure when it became routine, but recently it wasn’t rare for her to find a fallen angel on her bed while she studied. It was a nice scene; sometimes, the backing track of whatever game Yohane had lugged over with her was just what she needed to focus on the work in front of her. And recently, she found herself missing the noise when it was silent and the girl wasn’t there. Somewhere along the lines, Tsushima Yoshiko had become somewhat of a staple in her life.
Today, however, the maths was a bit too hard, and the sight of Yoshiko bathing in the delight of not being in Digit Hell pissed her off.
"Dumbass fallen angel."
"Huh? Did you say something, Lily?"
"I said, 'Don’t you have something more productive to be doing right now?'" She heard Yoshiko shift on the bed. "It’s all fun and games while you're in your first year, but you should be more forthcoming in your studies, Yocchan." Riko knew this was a good way to get under the girl's skin. Even though she was a slacker through and through, Yoshiko never liked it being acknowledged. Although she couldn't see it because Riko still had her body folded over her work, she knew the girl was smirking. Little did Riko know, Yoshiko had a smirk of her own.
"Your insolence will be forgiven, Lily, as I’ll have you know homework is a problem of yestermorrow."
"Yoshiko-chan? Did her homework??"
"Shut up! Don’t act so surprised I can be diligent, you know," she whined. "The Great Black Demon of the Swamp had assisted me through the endeavour."
Great Black Demon of the Swamp...Kurosawa? Was that Ruby? Riko couldn’t really see Ruby as a great demon of anything, but the event lines up. Yoshiko had mentioned hanging out at Ruby's place yesterday. Although Ruby’s place would also be Dia’s. Hold on, Great Demon... Dia?!
Dia had helped Yoshiko with her work before their study non-study date, not date? Riko was now drowning in an indescribable emptiness. How could this happen? Helping Yoshiko study was her thing. What was next? They go shopping together, and Dia appears on her stream, and then next thing you know, she’s her elite little Didi or something. This can’t be.
"Hey, Riko, if you're gonna zone out like that, ditch the work and play this with me. You know it’s boring all by myself."
"Huh? Ah, okay, Yoshiko," she said, not entirely present, but took the controller that was held out in front of her.
And as she picked her character and button-bashed B, the screen gradually faded to a scene of her on the ground grovelling, with Dia victorious above her.
-
Riko had been acting weird recently. For all her self-centredness and feigned self-interest, Yoshiko paid attention to all her little demons and found that her most elite one was off. It was an uncomfortable realisation for Yoshiko; between the two of them, she was meant to be the weird one, spontaneous and sporadic. However, recently, Riko has been different. Yoshiko wasn’t unfamiliar with Riko’s snark or sass; that was what their dynamic was built on. But nowadays... their banter had more bite behind it, and Yoshiko couldn’t figure out why.
Something was clearly affecting her little demon, and as her master, Yoshiko was determined to get to the bottom of it.
To ensure the efficiency of this, she enlisted the help of another one of her demons, "Given the contract, we are bound for a while."
Dia grimaced at the idea of being anything with Yoshiko and began to walk away. "What an entirely unpleasant situation. I’m starting to regret ever listening to you."
The idea was that Yoshiko, as amazing as she was, wasn't the best gift-giver. To be honest, it wasn’t really her thing, and while every time she gave one, it was loved and cherished, Yoshiko knew her tastes always bled through into what she gave. But Riko deserved something more. Riko deserved something that would show her truly how elite she was and how integral to Yohane’s Fallen Army she was, to remind her of her duty, but also to tell her how much Yoshiko treasured her as a friend (not that she would ever admit that). That’s why, to ensure the quality of her gift, Yoshiko enlisted the most well-adjusted person she knew, Dia.
Yoshiko knew they had similar tastes, being the mature, pretty girls they were, so if she got Dia's word, surely Riko would love what she got.
"I know you're just as worried about Riko, so don't act like you're here for no reason!"
"I’ll take it that you're worried about Riko-san, then?"
"Huh? I didn’t say anything like that! Don’t put words in my mouth."
"Right, right, well anyways, we're here."
Their first stop was a jewellery store, not the fancy, luxury kind that’s decked out in gold, glass, and marble. Yoshiko, no matter her fallen angel powers, didn’t have that kind of budget. They stood inside a store with an array of accessories, from dazzling hair ornaments to dainty earrings and blinged-out necklaces.
Surely, here in this bazaar, Yoshiko could find something for Riko.
"The idea is that we get her something practical she'll like. Riko-san always clips her bangs, doesn't she? I'm sure she would appreciate another sort of accessory.”
"Because it would show we pay attention to her... hold on, we? There’s no 'we' here, it’s just me!"
"You think I’m just going to stand around and not get something too? Riko-san is suffering, and you want me to stay idle? I’m not letting some fallen angel show me up. I will also be getting her something!"
"Then you should’ve stayed out of it, dumbass! What’s she gonna do with doubles of the same stuff?!"
"Ah."
"Ah, my ass!"
With that, Dia walked to one end of the store, and Yoshiko to the other.
Naturally, Yoshiko was pissed at Dia. The girl was clearly trying to steal her thunder and lightning and the slight condensation in the air before a storm. Now, as she picked out something for Riko, she wouldn’t be able to get another person's opinion on a gift because Dia’s perception would be skewed by greed and envy.
Delving deeper into the store, she walked past arrays of different sets of earrings that called out to her, trying to find something that would call out to Riko instead. Yoshiko was used to things calling her name; she had noble status, after all. But Riko was just a little demon, and she deserved something that spoke of her elite status. Yoshiko took a displayed locket into her hands.
Even so, Yoshiko didn’t know what to get. She knew it had to be better than Dia’s and had to be the best gift ever. It would have to be something that made Riko legitimately jump with joy. Would a pretty hair clasp really give the impact she wanted? Didn’t Riko already have the hair clips she would want? What if Yoshiko bought something here, and Riko didn’t even like it, or worse, already had a version of it? Riko was a fashionable girl; it came with being a Tokyoite. So who was Yoshiko, born, bred, and will probably be buried in Numazu, to offer something to her? Something so materialistic like an accessory. Didn’t she know better as a fallen angel?
“Damn you, Lily,” she yelled into the store, undoubtedly turning heads, but she didn’t care. She was moments away from encountering a life-or-death situation. Kicking and stomping out of the store, Yoshiko left, but not before carefully putting back the locket she was inspecting. While nothing there screamed Lily, she was sure it was calling to someone else, and she shouldn’t disrupt that call with carelessness.
Back in the store,
Dia knew Riko. And she would like to think that even while all of Aqours was a close-knit friend group where everyone loved each other equally, she was Riko’s favourite third year. It isn’t a hard title to earn; she was Dia Kurosawa, after all. But Mari was eccentric and flew off on her own wind, leaving someone like Riko in a whirlwind. Kanan was Kanan, and Dia held the most in common with her. It wasn’t strange for the two of them to share lunch together or spend an afternoon in Numazu shopping. Riko, like many others, liked Dia’s sense of style, and as the only other person in Aqours with a good head on their shoulders, Dia liked Riko’s sense of self.
It was for that reason that she was up on a Saturday morning, out in Numazu, trying to find a gift for the girl.
Yoshiko had mentioned it to her, although she couldn’t really call it a mention, when the girl ran into her blabbering about something involving demons taking away her little demon Lily, which she felt wasn’t a great analogy. It just made Yohane-sama seem like a terrible leader. And if Yoshiko was going to play make-believe, she should at least try to make her character less of a loser than she was in real life.
Regardless, Yoshiko had mentioned something about Riko being off, and Dia agreed. It felt like recently she had been distancing herself from Dia, and along with it, Dia had been feeling this odd burning in the back of her head. When she turned around, all she saw was Riko. It was getting disturbing, which only meant one thing: Riko was disturbed in a way where something was bothering her, not in the sense that something was messed up with her head.
That was a different ordeal she had to think about more.
So that’s why she was standing in line to buy from a store she had never been to: a matching set of hair clips that she could wear alongside Riko.
It was beautiful; Dia knew that for sure, which meant that it would suit Riko perfectly. With this, there was no doubt that she and Riko would become infinitely closer. Thinking about it, Dia couldn’t help but smile. Perhaps Riko would start to wear the clip Dia got her regularly. Perhaps she would love it so much that she would decide to shop with her. Perhaps one day they would go out together and accidentally match because they both decided to wear the clip. What a lovely idea. Truly, Dia was a genius. Only she could come up with such an amazing idea. An idea so amazing she could almost forget that she came here with someone else.
Almost...
Dia frowned. Earlier, she did hear Yoshiko shout something and saw her storm off. Then, she decided to ignore it because, well, she was in line and didn’t want to lose her place. Definitely not because she was too caught up thinking about all the fun and amazing things she and Riko would be getting up to together.
Regardless, she spared a glance toward the glass front of the store. Naturally, standing to the side and deliberately in sight, stood an empty-handed Yohane, huffing and puffing. Of course, Yoshiko wouldn’t have ditched her; she smiled a bit at the thought. She was too considerate for that. It was one of the only traits Dia admired about the younger girl.
Underneath the tough fallen angel exterior and awkward advances, Yoshiko truly was a good girl through and through. Even if she denies it. Dia wouldn’t have thought about getting Riko something if Yoshiko never brought it up. Gift-giving wasn’t really something she did, not that she was against it or anything. Just... everyone around her already had the things they needed or didn’t care much for material things. Kanan, Mari, Ruby... They all preferred to be with people more. Dia didn’t think the others in Aqours preferred things like this. But Yoshiko thought about it and acted on it even after realising she was no good. That was the sort of thing that only someone like their one-of-a-kind Yohane would do. Not that she would be saying this to the girl’s face anytime soon. Dia didn’t like the smug smile Yohane got when she was praised. She much preferred Yoshiko’s bashful blush in lieu of a compliment.
ー
Riko, plain girl as she was, didn’t feel intensely unless we’re talking about the deep-seated embarrassment that comes with living. So she wasn’t sure what it was that she was feeling, just that she didn’t like it.
Some time ago, Riko had come to a realisation. She knew it was a bit late to say it with such a definition, considering the fact that maybe anyone with eyes could tell if they had sense, but Riko liked Yoshiko. She felt a bit stupid saying it so plainly, but really, that’s all there is to it. Riko liked Yoshiko. Something, she wasn’t sure if it was the cuteness behind a junior or the smouldering coolness Yohane exuded, drew her to Yoshiko, and like the brilliant idol she was, Riko found her world revolving around the star that was Tsushima Yoshiko. It felt clarifying saying it, but really, Riko was in love with Yoshiko. She had fallen for the fallen angel. The thought had her giddy all day, and at night, it had her giggling outright, kicking her legs on her bed. Truly, Riko was a schoolgirl with a high school crush.
With newfound emotions came newfound reactions, and well, Riko was never a jealous person. She didn’t even like the colour green, but that ugly feeling kept rearing its head when she just so much as heard Yoshiko’s name in the same sentence as Dia’s? It could only have been jealousy. And she hated it. Dia was good to her; Dia was an amazing senpai and always helped her when needed and took care of her when she felt overwhelmed by the shenanigans that went on around. Dia was always looking out for her, and Riko was… Riko was feeling jealous of her? She didn’t deserve it, but Riko couldn’t help it. Dia was beautiful in every sense of the word, and she knew it. She had the sort of confidence that people like Riko, boring and ordinary girls who couldn’t hope to be amazing, wished for. Dia was smart, talented, hard-working, and responsible. Just between her strong work ethic, the fact she was student council president, and her long, silky black hair that smelt like tea tree and sugar mixed with the true meaning of life and everything nice, how could she not be jealous?
There was Dia, perfect, perfect Dia, getting closer to Yoshiko, the current demon of her dreams. She didn’t even feel like Dia was competition because, well, Dia was Dia, and Riko was ordinary Riko. There was no fight there. It took taking in a dog for Yoshiko to realise Riko existed outside of club activities, and then a week for them to actually become close. Dia? Was mustering all of that up in a few days' time. Riko didn’t like it one bit.
If this really was love, she thought, then maybe she was okay with never reenacting the doujins she read. Could it be that love was really that bitter, aching feeling in her gut that gripped each time she saw the person she held most dear? She wanted no part of that.
So Riko decided to get her mind off the things around her. This meant resuming the painting she’d been putting off for the past week. As she sat down, she realised that she needed to go buy new supplies, and so she headed to Numazu.
ー
For a while now,
Yoshiko had been dragging her in and out of different stores, frantically looking for something for Riko. And desperately, Dia was trying to keep herself from getting angry, but the constant tugging on her sleeve and the jarring whining and general noise that was being generated next to her was making it hard.
"Yoshiko-san, let's take a break and pick this up later."
"There won't be a later! We need to get something first, and then we can rest."
"We're taking a break. Look, let’s sit down, grab something to eat to regain some energy, and recharge. After that, we can continue."
"If you're hungry, go by yourself. You're not even helping."
Dia’s eye twitched, but she kept her voice down. Really, this girl was getting on her nerves. Still, she followed her into an arts store.
"Riko paints, doesn't she? As expected of my Lily, a denizen of the arts... but wow."
"There are a lot of things here. Do you even know what she paints with?"
"There are different kinds of paint...?!"
"... Seriously, if you don’t know anything, why are you rushing ahead instead of doing research on these things?"
"Shut up! You went and got something all by yourself so you wouldn’t get it! If I don’t get it now, then—"
"Then what?"
"Then... it doesn’t matter to you! You just want to show me up!"
"Seriously, what are you on about right now?"
"You just get Riko better than me, so of course you got something first. And I... I'm a terrible friend who can't get anything right."
"... Now, where did that come from?"
"I can’t do this!" Yoshiko yells, storming off again.
Quick to follow, Dia chases after her.
"Yoshiko-san, where are you going?!" She pushes through the crowd in the food court, walking steadily between tables and chairs. "Hey, don't ignore me! Wait up!"
Surprisingly, Yoshiko was faster than Dia.
"I said hold on!" Dia reached out and grabbed Yoshiko’s arm, pulling her back forcefully. Face to face now, they paused to catch their quickened breaths.
"Let go!"
"Calm down, will you? Maybe then I’ll let go," Dia gritted out, trying her best to stay composed.
"Calm down?! Don’t tell me what to do!"
"Can you just listen for once and stop being so self-centred?"
"Self-centred?! Shut up! I’m not self-centred!"
"Then you’re being selfish, or something else that makes you think only of yourself!" Dia retorted, her voice regrettably rising. She knew she shouldn’t be shouting so loudly in a public place like this, but her reactions were often involuntary when it came to Yoshiko. "I get that you’re frustrated, but you’re letting it get in the way of Riko-san! You’re going to ruin this!"
Yoshiko opened her mouth to argue, but Dia cut her off, pulling out a box from her pocket. She held it up between them.
"I got Riko-san something practical. I don’t even know if she’ll like it," Dia admitted. "That’s what gift-giving is. You never know. But it’s the thought that counts. Even if you don’t fully understand what you’re buying, maybe that’s a sign it’s something that suits her. That’s the risk we all take."
Taking the hand that was holding Yoshiko, Dia moved it gently towards the girl's head, nudging her chin up slightly so that they were now looking eye to eye. Unfazed by the glare directed at her, Dia couldn’t help but smile at Yoshiko’s confused display of earnestness.
"You're always so impulsive and reckless," Dia muttered, her voice softening. "Do you ever stop to think before you act?"
Instead of responding, Yoshiko just stared at her. And before either of them could speak further-
"Dia-san... Yocchan?"
Both girls froze. Dia’s hand was on Yoshiko's head. Somehow, she hadn’t realised how close they’d gotten. Perhaps too close to anyone looking in from the outside.
"Eh?" Dia’s eyes widened as she turned to see Riko standing there, her expression caught between surprise and confusion.
Yoshiko yanked herself back, but what was seen had already been seen. Riko’s eyes darted between the two, lingering on Dia’s hand, which had just been placed tenderly on Yoshiko's head.
"No... um... don't...?" Riko stammered, her face flushed as she quickly looked away. "I'll just—" Riko freezes, not sure how to react.
“Lily! I’m so sorry!!” Yoshiko yelled out abruptly, her eyes starting to water.
“Eh? Yocchan, what’s wrong?”
“You can’t seriously be crying right now…”
Yoshiko’s tears spilt over at the sight of Riko, her sobs catching in her throat. The sight of the younger girl’s distress broke something in Riko’s chest. Dia quickly stepped back, creating a space between them. Riko, already frantic, moved in, her hands reaching for Yoshiko instinctively.
Dia glanced between the two, unsure what to do; the food court around them was too loud and too crowded for a moment like this. Without another word, she grabbed Riko’s wrist gently and pulled her toward the quieter side of the mall.
“Let’s go somewhere a little calmer.”
Riko, still holding Yoshiko’s hand, followed without question, still not knowing what to do with the sobbing first-year. She hadn't had time to think about it as they quickly reached where Dia was taking them. Then, once they arrived, Yoshiko retreated to a wall far from them and slid down to a huddle.
After her eyes trailed Yoshiko's movements, Riko turned around to find that Dia was already steps away. In other words, she had been abandoned.
Left alone with Yoshiko, Riko came close and crouched down beside her, staring at the wall in front of them.
The silence between them was palpable, made all the more apparent by the faint sound of customers going to, from and around the busy mall. Although Yoshiko had seemed to stop crying on the way here, she still kept her head down. Looking to the side slightly, Riko could see the faint streaks of tears still fresh on Yoshiko's cheeks.
"Yocchan, will you tell me what's wrong?" She reached out with one hand, tentatively brushing the top of Yoshiko's head, flattening down non-existent stray hairs.
She tried but only received a non-verbal response.
The half grunt, half whine she got in response wasn’t exactly what she hoped for, but at least it confirmed she was being listened to. Having only come into the equation seconds before Yoshiko started crying, Riko hadn’t the slightest idea what could have caused her to shut down like this.
She doubted Dia was to blame, but her lack of presence made Riko think that maybe it was her fault. She quickly shut down the thought. It wasn’t fair to accuse Dia of something when she wasn’t there to defend herself, and Riko knew that, for all the harshness in her words at times, she wouldn’t drive anyone to tears. On purpose, at least… And leave without apologising properly.
Despite her musings, the wall between her and Yoshiko was still as tall as before, and it seemed it wasn’t going to come down anytime soon. Her usually bright and determined demeanour was dimmed, replaced with something Riko hadn’t seen from her before, a kind of quiet despair. Perhaps befitting for a fallen angel such as Yohane but not something she wanted to see surrounding Yocchan.
Riko hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip as she tried her best to figure out what to do. She wasn’t used to being the one to comfort others.
“What happened, Yocchan?” She asked again, her voice gentle but insistent. “I can’t help you if I don’t know. So, can you please tell me?”
Yoshiko’s shoulders shook, but she still didn’t say anything. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her knees, huddling into herself as if trying to make herself smaller, less noticeable.
Keeping her head down, Yoshiko mumbled out in a wet voice, “I... I don’t know why I’m acting like this,” trailing off, “I’m so embarrassed.”
“That’s okay, we can just stay like this until you figure it out, okay?” Riko smiled softly, even though she knew Yoshiko couldn’t see it. “I will wait for you.”
Yoshiko shook her head briefly. “You shouldn’t have to...”
"Hmm... maybe, but that doesn’t matter when it’s something I want to do," Riko said a bit too cheerily for the situation at hand. "Don’t think too much of it."
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Riko hummed softly, signalling she was listening, her gaze never leaving Yoshiko.
"Lily... You always have that look on your face, like you're thinking too hard about something, but you never talk to me about it. You just keep up that smile like everything's fine." She paused, swallowing thickly before continuing, "I like your smile, I do. But I wish it was real. I want to see you enjoying yourself, not pretending. I don’t want you to hide from me, to put up a front. I want to be someone you can count on, someone you can trust. When you don’t let me in... it makes me feel…”
Her words trailed off as her voice faltered, thick with emotion.
Before Riko could speak up, a voice cut in gently, “She feels helpless.”
Riko turned her head to see Dia standing a few feet away, two drinks in hand. She walked over and set one down gently by Yoshiko before handing the other to Riko, sitting down on the other side of Riko. Yoshiko finally raised her head, her face flushed. She stared at Dia, stunned into silence. Riko could sense the shift in the air but wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it.
“Yoshiko-san isn’t the only one who feels that way,” Dia continued, a soft smile on her lips. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the same.”
For a long moment, no one said anything. The thought that two people cared so much, that they had been worried about her, was overwhelming. The idea that someone would be moved to tears over her pain made her chest ache with a mix of guilt and gratitude.
Dia continued reaching into her bag to present a beautifully wrapped box to Riko with a gentle smile. “That’s why Yoshiko-san went through all this trouble to get you a gift.”
Riko blinked, staring at the box in her hands before glancing up at Yoshiko. She hesitated, looking down again before meeting Dia’s eyes. Dia nodded, signalling her to open it. Carefully, Riko untied the ribbon, lifting the lid to reveal a delicate sakura-shaped hair clip, its colours a blend of soft purples and pinks, swirling together like the petals of a cherry blossom caught in the wind, catching the sun.
Riko’s fingers brushed the smooth surface of the clip but then felt something at the back. She turned it over and saw an engraving, elegant and familiar, etched into the metal: etude.
“Can you hear it?” Dia asked softly, “The message Yoshiko-san wanted to send with it?”
Riko brought the clip close to her ear, her heart skipping a beat as she faintly heard a soft melody. She looked up, her eyes meeting Yoshiko’s, then Dia’s, and after a moment of silence, she nodded.
Being a pianist, Riko knew what an etude was. She had played countless ones before competitions, perfecting her technique, pushing herself to her limits. The hours she had spent in practice, the sweat, the frustration. All of it resurfaced as she connected the meaning behind the word and the sakura flower she’d always felt close to.
"I hear it,"
“I hear it,” Riko repeated, her voice steadier this time, as she looked at Yoshiko. “I hear... the way you want to reach me, even when I can’t put everything into words. I’ve been so lost in my own head that I didn’t see you. I’m sorry.”
Yoshiko blinked, tears still glistening in her eyes, but now there was something else in them. She looked toward Dia, biting her lip, unsure of what to say next.
“And... thank you,” Riko added softly, as she placed the clip back in the box. She met Yoshiko’s gaze and smiled, a real smile, not the forced one she had been giving recently. “Thank you for thinking of me... for the gift, for everything. It means more to me than you know.”
“That’s not right!”
Riko’s eyes widened, startled by Yoshiko. Did she say something wrong?
“It wasn’t me! It was Dia who got you that,” Yoshiko confessed. “I couldn’t find anything, and now I’ve messed everything up like I always do.”
“Yoshiko-san!”
“I just wanted to show Lily I care! But I didn’t know how... I don’t know anything about you, Lily. I’m not worthy to call you my little demon!”
“Riko-san, don’t listen to her!” Dia interjected quickly. “She’s just being emotional. The clip was a gift from both of us, but I wouldn’t have thought of it without Yoshiko-san’s help!”
“That’s not true, Lily!” Yoshiko argued, flustered. “Dia picked it all by herself while I was outside moping!”
“So you admit you were moping?”
Riko watched the two of them bicker back and forth, the words swirling around her like an overwhelming whirlwind. But she found that she didn't hate it; even though she wasn't quite following along anymore, she found herself unable to resist the smile blossoming.
As if remembering that Riko was there, Yoshiko and Dia turned to her, frozen at the sight of Riko. Riko's laugh, soft and unguarded, broke their need to argue and brought everything to a rest. It made sense for the composer of such beautiful music to be able to make a sound just as attractive as the songs she creates.
The sight of Riko, her laughter spilling out freely, was more beautiful than anything they had seen in a long time and the goal they had sought out from the start of the day.
Noticing their intent gazes, Riko felt a sudden shyness creeping over her. She ducked her head, the flush on her cheeks matching the soft pink hues of the sakura clip, and she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Unaware of the effect her gesture had, the simple act made Yoshiko’s and Dia’s hearts race, the warmth on their faces deepening.
“See? Smiling and laughing is a good look on you, Lily!”
“Indeed, happiness suits you, Riko-san.”
Riko didn’t know how to respond to their words, but she settled for a bright smile.