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An sat there messing with the tie that adorned her neck. Not because it was annoying her, far from it, in fact. She was messing with it as a way to calm herself down. She was currently stressing about her upcoming English test, and this tie was one of her few ways of grounding herself.
The reason it had this soothing property over An was that it used to belong to a very special friend.
Akiyama Mizuki.
During Ans's first day at Kamiyam High, she and Mizuki met, and she can remember the events that led up to the swap as clearly as the sky.
—
She started by walking over to the distracted pinkette when it seemed no one had talked to her the whole class.
“Hi there! My name is Shiraishi An. What about you?”
She remembered the inexplicable–the reason being unknown to her then, but soon to be revealed–long silence that awaited her.
“... Uhhh, my name is Akiyama Mizuki?”
“Good to meet ya, Akiyama-san!”
An remembered being acutely aware of how Mizuki sat there adjusting her tie the entire time they introduced themselves and decided she would earn a few brownie points with this new friend of hers.
“Wanna swap your tie for my bow? No girl as pretty as you should be forced to wear a tie like that.” Okay, maybe she laid it on a little thick for simply saying it was brownie points.
“Are you sure? Y-you're also a pretty girl, so you shouldn't have to wear it either by your own logic.”
“Not nearly as pretty as you, now come on and take it!” An quickly took over her bow and handed it to Mizuki, taking the tie from the other girl and fastening it around her neck.
“Wow … that's a lot better than you, Shirashi-san.”
“No need to thank me! Just looking out for a girl in need is all. Also, you can just call me An, no need for the honorifics.”
“Well, in that case, just call me Mizuki, I don't need honorifics if you don't either.”
An was starting to finally get to this girl and warm her up.
—
An thought of that memory at least once a week and touched the tie while doing so. The truth was that she had a big, fat lesbian crush on the girl known as Akiyama Mizuki. And this tie was simply a great way to remind herself of her crush and their perfect face.
Zoning back into reality, she looked down at the study guide for her English exam. An really needed to pass this exam because even though she and the rest of VBS were going to be professional musicians, her dad was still adamant about “getting good grades” and “Making sure you're smart enough”. Truthfully, when he was saying these things, the only thing that An was thinking of was adorning Mizuki's neck with a peppering of kisses, not the fact that she was failing her English class.
Though thinking about both failing and kissing Mizuki had given An a brilliant idea!
“I need to get Mizuki to tutor me!” She suddenly exclaimed, quickly pulling out her phone and pulling up Mizuki's contact info. Despite somehow never being in classes, that pink-haired girl always scored remarkably well on every assignment she did.
[An]- Hey Mizuuuuu!!! I have a really big favor to ask u! Could you please help me with the upcoming test for English🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 I know you do really well and i need help so i figured you would be able to help
An then threw her phone and brought up a hand to her face. Hot. Like HOT hot. An was truly and fully whipped for that pink-haired girl if she was getting a blush this bad from simply asking her to tutor her.
She quickly got up and went to her bathroom to splash some cold water on her face and get a drink to calm herself down.
Returning to her room, she picked up her phone, hoping to find a notification, but alas, none awaited her. And so she turned herself back to the task at hand. She looked at the study guide and just could not figure out where to start. She slowly turned the pages one by one slightly grazing over the topics that would be covered before finally landing back on the first page and staring at it. Just staring.
God An really did hate studying. There was so much better things she could be doing with her time! Like practicing music, or talking with friends, thinking about Mizuki.
Bzzt
She was saved. A notification! An didnt even care if it was Mizuki or not just the fact that something saved her from her “studying” was enough. She picked up her phone again and let out a sigh of relief as it was indeed from Mizuki.
[Zuki]- yeah sure An~~ I’d love to ♥️! What time? And I assume at Weekend Garage?
[An]- uhh how about tomorrow at like 11:30? Ill even treat you to a free lunch as thanks.
[Zuki]- Sounds perfect :3
And then flopped onto her bed and plugged in her phone. No need to study now if she is going on a date to study with Mizuki tomorrow, right?
As she slowly closed her eyes, her mind once again started replaying her first memories made with Mizuki.
—
“So, what class are you most excited for this year, Mizuki?” The black and blue-haired girl whispered to the pink-haired girl so as not to alert their teacher to the side conversation.
“I never really thought about it? I probably won't be in school much, so I never really thought about it.”
“Oh? And why's that if you don't mind me asking?”
“I'm not really the biggest fan of …” Mizuki paused to find the next words, “people, I guess, it's a little hard to explain, and I don't think you’d get it.”
“Shirahasi-san! Akiyama-san! If you have a desperate conversation, continue it outside; if not, please pay attention.”
Shit.
This was bad for An. Not only had Mizuki shrunk away from her when she was just starting to get closer, but now their teacher had interrupted them. An was going to need to find a way to continue talking with Mizuki. Maybe at lunch? She thought to herself.
An then quickly scribbled something down and passed it to Mizuki discreetly while being focused on the board ahead of them.
After a few seconds, Mizuki wrote something on the paper and handed it back to An, without taking their eyes off the board. An hastily turned down the paper and sighed with relief as she read what was on it.
Sure, but can we do it somewhere private? As I said, I don't really like people.
An looked back over to Mizuki and held a small little thumbs up.
The rest of the morning passed by quickly, and An followed Mizuki to a secluded spot far away from the rest of their classmates before sitting down and starting to dig through her lunch.
“So if ya don't mind me asking, why don't you like people that much?”
“As I said, I don't think you'd get it.”
“If you say so, but I've been told I'm a pretty understanding person.”
There were a few moments of silence as both girls continued eating their lunches. Mizuki was eating considerably slower than An; however, to the point that An almost finished before Mizuki took another bite.
“Okay, you seem trustworthy enough to tell, I suppose.”
“Of course, Mizuki, if it helps at all ill also tell a secret, deal?”
“Never figured you'd be the kind of person to have such things, An~.”
There was a new twinge of playfulness to Mizuki's voice that An had not heard before. It was a little refreshing to hear for An that she was starting to get accustomed to friendship with her.
“So ummm, basically I was … not born a girl, but I am one now, well kinda also non-binary but also a girl if that makes sense? That's why I had a tie, not a bow…” Mizuki replied timidly with the voice of a mouse.
“Oh? Well, I’m like totally lesbian, so don't worry, we queers gotta stick together, yeah? Also, do you use any pronouns besides she/her? Sorry if that's a weird question to ask you, but you're the first friend I’ve had who is queer in the gender sense.”
Mizuki stood there a little slack-jawed before speaking again, “Y-you really don't care about me being trans?”
“Nah, why would I? You're a cool person, and I only judge people based on how cool they are!” An replied as she stepped forward and pulled Mizuki into a hug. “I promise I won't tell anyone about you, okay? You'll always have a friend in me.”
—
An was woken up from her dream rather rudely by her alarm, which she quickly turned off and sat herself up on her bed. Then she sat there for a few moments as she did most mornings, to truly wake herself up. Then she had to go quickly, use the bathroom, change, and brush her teeth all in the bathroom.
“An! I need you when you have a second.” Ans father called out just as she was exiting the bathroom.
“Coming!” An replied as she quickly made her way downstairs to the cafe.
“I know you have an English test to study for, but you also need to help me just a little today as well, okay?”
“Yeah, of course, Dad! But I also have a friend coming over to tutor me as well, but I promise ill help you until then!”
“Oh? Is it Toya-kun? I know he has very good English marks. Or maybe Kohane-chan? I know you like that girl a lot…” He teased as he asked.
“No dad its actually Mizuki. She may not be at school very often, but I promise she's also really good in school!”
“Hmmm, okay, I believe you, but if I walk up there, I'd better see you studying and not making out as I did with Haruka a few years ago.”
“DAD!”
“Kidding, just kidding, sweety, I know you'll study hard, okay? Now go get ready.”
An walked towards the counter and put on her customary Weekend Garage apron, grumbling while doing so about how embarrassing her dad was. She proceeded to pour herself and down a cup of coffee to wake herself up for the long day ahead of her, and walked toward her first table.
“Good morning and welcome to Weekend Garage! What can I get started for ya?” An asked, forcing a pleasant customer service, the coffee she just had made it easier to put on.
“Good morning to you, too. I think I’d just like a coffee.”
“Of course! I'll get that started right away for you.” An quickly jotted down the simple order and started to prep the order.
After her first order, the rest of the day flew by until she was on her lunch break and anxiously awaiting Mizuki's arrival. There had been multiple times throughout her shift where she had spaced out and started thinking of Mizuki instead of the orders, leading to multiple missed, burnt, or wrong orders altogether, which also earned her a small scolding from her dad.
In front of An set a glass of water and a plate of fries made just for Mizuki, but they laid untouched for the past few minutes.
“Where is she? Did she really just forget that she was gonna help me? Mizuki isnt really the forgetful type.” Besides “forgetting” to go to school. An thought and then chuckled to herself.
Just after thinking this, the ringing of the door caught her attention, and she looked up from her corner table to see that Mizuki had just arrived, dressed a bit more elegantly than one would expect for a simple tutoring meeting.
An immediately shot up and called Mizuki over to her table with an arm wave and a quick “Hey Mizuki!”
“I see you already got fries for me, thanks An~~~ ill be sure to tutor you extremely well.”
“Ewww dont phrase it like that you make it sound so gross.”
“Of course you would think I meant it that way you big gaybo.”
“Hey youre the one here whos the big gaybo!”
They sat there laughing while Mizuki slowly snacked on fries. Slowly fading in and out of different topics, each alternating on who would start the next conversation, until Mizuki had finally finished her fries and curry rice.
“So you ready to study yet An?”
“Yep sure am! All fueled up now and ready to demolish this English! Just lemme tell my dad we’re starting.”
An broke off from Mizuki while the pinkette went to Ans room to get ready.
“Okay dad me and Mizuki are gonna go upstairs to start studying so just call me if you need.”
“Uhh huh … and youre sure youre just studying? I saw the way you were looking at that Mizuki girl.”
“OH MY GOD DAD!”
“Sweetie please, im just asking as your father, do you like her?”
“Well I uhh…” An started to trip over her words and stumble through her sentence not actually giving her father a clear answer.
“Thats what I thought. If you like her though why not just tell her? This would be the perfect time to.”
“You dont understand dad Mizuki is … different. I cant just tell you without breaking a promise I made to her, but it makes it difficult to just say it to her face.” An sat there in silence again feeling the weight–thought it was judgement free– of her dads stare on her. “Mizuki is just fragile. I’m afraid if I tell her shell run away scared, or feel like she has to reciprocate my feelings and force herself to be with me. Its complicated”
“Kiddo let me tell you something. Even if she is fragile, I think she’s smart enough to not feel forced into a relationship with you. I could tell from the conversation you two were having. She seems a lot tougher than you give her credit for, I can tell just from the way she talks.
“You dont know the half of it.”
“Well my point is I think youre overthinking this too much. And how would you live if you let all these choices you can make just pass you by. Can you imagine what life would have been like if you passed up on becoming a performer here? Or if you passed up on asking Kohane, Toya and Akito to form your group together?”
An stood there a little too stunned to speak as she finally mouthed out her answer, “No.”
“Then dont let this opportunity pass you up either, even if she says no its better to have tried right?
An looked up into her father's eyes with reverence.
“Y-you're right, Dad… I'll try to ask her!”
What followed next was the quick pitter-patter of Ans' footsteps going up the stairs to her room.
“So what did your dad need you for?”
An had to quickly come up with a lie.“Oh, nothing, just some quick talk about the inventory of the store after my shift today.”
“Mmhmm, so what did you need help with? I know you said English, but anything specifically?”
“Uhh, yeah, I think conjugation help and a little help with basic grammar review would be nice? Do you think you could do that?”
“Of course, An! Both my parents actually need to speak English for their jobs, so I kinda picked up on it fast.”
Mizuki then got out their textbooks and flipped through to the notes on conjugation and her notes about sentence structure. While pointing out things to each other, there were multiple times where their hands brushed against each other, and both parties flushed a little red and quickly drew their hands away from each other.
“Was there anything else you wanted to cover? It was only an hour or so that we were studying, so im more than willing to do a little more helping with you if you need.”
“Uhh yeah, kind … we have an upcoming project in our English class to write a letter to someone we admire that isn't our parents, and I was wondering if you could help me with that?” An turned her eyes away from the cute piercing eyes of Mizuki when she asked the embarrassing request.
Mizuki also sheepishly turned her head away to face the opposite way of the blue-haired girl.
“Oh … yeah, I can help you. Who did you have in mind? Kohane?”
“Y-yeah. It's for Kohane.”
“Well, just list out the things you admire about her, I guess? Her talent, her grit and determination, her beauty, things like that.”
An started to frantically write down a list in a piece of her notebook before ripping it out and handing it to Mizuki.
“I-I lied … it was for you.”
Mizuki didn't respond immediately; instead only opened the letter and read it carefully. It was indeed filled with the things An admired about Mizuki. Their love for fashion, their willingness to be themselves, and how pretty they were. Even a small recollection about the first time they met and swapped their tie and bow, and at the end, a little tiny note that read I love you, Mizuki.
“I love you too, ya big dork!” Mizuki quickly said, trying to fight back tears while pulling An into a big hug.
The two sat there for a while before An pulled back a little. “I know its a bit early, but could we kiss? It's my favorite way to show affection.”
“Of course we can kiss An!”
An leaned back into Mizuki, pressing her lips against the other girls. Mizuki's lips tasted like cherry, with a hint of citrus behind it, and An couldn't get enough of it.
On the other end, Mizuki was also enjoying the kiss very much. Ans's lips tasted of the rum raisin ice cream she had been eating while the two were studying.
“AN! I told you to study and not to be making out with each other!” Ken shouted playfully at the two
An quickly and unfortunately had to pull away from Mizuki
“DAD!”
Mizuki sat there giggling to herself while licking the taste of ice cream from their lips.