Chapter Text
Minori was eating her food at the cafeteria, slightly zoned out. She was probably thinking about what to do in More More Jump’s next live, when a high pitched voice suddenly made her jump out of her daze.
“Minori-chan! Could I eat with you today?”
“Ah! Kohane-chan! Of course!”
Minori could never refuse Kohane's request! They were best friends after all.
They sat there, talking about whatever they had in mind: a project for next class, a funny moment, a friend, music.. you get it. Their conversation stretched to various subjects, until Kohane brought a certain one up.
“Oh! Yesterday, An-chan told me something very interesting about her!”
“Ehh?? What was it about, Kohane-chan!”
“Well… She said she was something called a lesbian.”
Minori looked at her with a confounded expression, tilting her head to the side. Before she could ask what that meant, Kohane continued.
“I was also as confused as you were when she told me! But, apparently, a lesbian is a girl that likes girls.”
Minori thought for a second. She always liked her girl friends! So, wasn't that a normal thing?
“Huh?? Isn’t it normal to like girls? I like Haruka as a girl, so, does that mean I’m one!?”
Kohane let out a small giggle.
“N-no! Not in that way, Minori-chan… It means liking a girl in a sort of.. wanting to date them way. A more romantic way than friendship!”
Wanting to date them way?? What could that really mean? She thought a bit harder. Wanting to date them… Does that mean that two girls could kiss?! No, she probably heard that wrong! That shouldn’t be possible! Kohane probably meant it in a platonic way!
Minori looked so visibly baffled that Kohane could sense the gears turning in her head.
“U-uhm, Minori-chan? Does that thought disturb you that much?”
Minori quickly snapped back to her surroundings.
“Wah—?! N-no! Not at all! I was just.. surprised..?”
“Ohh… I get it! I was also confused at first, but, after you do some research, you’ll get it. Trust me!”
“O-oh, alright! I’ll do some research! I could even ask my teammates while practice for their thoughts!”
“Y-yeah! That could be a great idea, Minori-chan.”
☘︎
It took a while for school to finally end. She was on the rooftop, as usual, waiting for all her friends to arrive for practice. Minori was usually the first one to appear on top of the school, so it was normal that she had to wait for them quite a lot. It only took a couple minutes for all of them to arrive one by one: Airi, Haruka then Shizuku.
“Alright! Everyone's here! Should we begin?”
Airi spoke first, breaking the silence that eventually fell on them.
“Well, um, before we start, I have a small question to ask you all…”
“What's on your mind, Minori-chan?”
Shizuku shortly replied.
“So… What does being a lesbian mean? I just want a better definition, eheh…”
She tried to add a small chuckle at the end to not make it so awkward, but it didn't sound that convincing. On the contrary, it made it even more awkward.
Everyone looked at her with a slightly surprised expression, not expecting a question of such.
“W-what makes you ask that?”
Haruka nervously— wait, why was she so nervous all of a sudden? She wasn't initially like that when she appeared on the rooftop. Compared to the others, she looked slightly suspicious. Minori tried to ignore it for now, focusing on the subject instead.
“Ah, uh, basically, at lunch time, Kohane-chan told me that An-chan was one, and I didn’t know what it really meant… So, I wanted to ask you guys! I-I was just curious!”
“If Kohane told you that, wouldn’t she equally explain what it meant?”
Airi remarked, recovered from her surprised state.
“She did..! But I still don’t really get it…”
“What’s so difficult about it? A lesbian is just a girl that loves girls romantically and that’s it!”
“Oh! In a platonic way?”
“Oh my GOD Minori! How can you be so oblivious?!”
Airi looked as if she was about to do a backflip out of frustration, but, before she did, (I hope she didn’t actually plan to do it) Shizuku quickly intervened.
“Here, let me spell it out in a way she could understand.”
She took a deep breath, and then continued.
“Minori, you know how girls usually fall in love with boys, right?”
She silently nodded.
“Imagine that, but, instead of a boy, it's a girl.”
The puzzle pieces finally connected in Minori’s innocent mind, her expression going from confused to a more flabbergasted one within seconds. Her mouth wide open, forming a small “O”.
“Huh— What?! T-t-that’s possible!!?”
“Of course it is! Everything’s possible nowadays! You should probably also close your mouth before you catch flies.”
Airi stated, completely exasperated by how utterly stupid the brunette could be.
Minori quickly moved her jaw so that it’s slightly closed, trying to recover from her shock.
“But— Then— H-how would that work!? Doesn’t that defy the laws of nature!?”
“Laws of nature my ass! People do what they want now.”
“Really?? So you can just date the same gender like that?!”
“Yeah. It really just depends on anyone and their preferences.”
Haruka, who was unusually silent until now, added her own words to the conversation.
“J-just be careful when talking about that subject with people, Minori… There are some that don’t support that.”
“Wha—?? Really?? Why not??”
Airi proceeded once again.
“Those kinds of people are called homophobic. Their reasons are usually, like you said, things about ‘laws of nature’ or about how abnormal it is. That’s why some are scared to come out as a lesbian. Do you understand better now?”
Minori nodded.
“Y-yeah! I do! I’ll look up some more on the internet later after I come home. Thanks guys!”
She looked at them with a grateful appearance, and then, her gaze landed on Haruka again. As she did so, the idol that was once looking at Minori, averted her gaze to the side. She was suspiciously suspicious, Minori thought. Moreover, Haruka had a guilty look for some reason! Her small smile was all crooked and wonky! She had to investigate later tomorrow!
☘︎
Minori learned a bunch of new stuff on the internet. Apparently, there’s more versions from what she learned! There was gay, bisexual and a whole lot more her brain couldn't retain. They also had flags for some reason. She wondered why. Maybe there's a country with only lesbian people in! Maybe the reason why An was here is because she moved to Japan from there! She searched it out of curiosity, and realised no such thing as lesbian country exists. I guess they had flags just to label themselves…