Chapter Text
Ding-dong!
The doorbell rang loud against Ena’s fingertip as she stood outside Airi’s door. She’d come as soon as she could, which, considering how late she woke up on most days, was several hours after Airi had texted her to come over. Though she’d apologized over text, her lateness was probably fine. At this point, Airi likely expected as much from her night owl of a friend.
The door opened to the vibrant pink colors of Airi’s hair. “Hey, Ena!”
“Hey,” Ena waved. “You said you had something for me?”
“Oh, right! Please come inside.” Airi motioned for Ena to enter. “It’s in my room.”
Much to Ena’s surprise, they didn’t run into any of Airi’s many family members as she led the way to her room, closing the door behind her. The room was as familiar as always, aside from the noticeably large box sitting on top of Airi’s desk. Airi made a beeline for it as soon as the door was closed.
Unsure of where to put herself, Ena sat down where she usually did, on one of the cushions next to the table. Admittedly, it felt a little awkward to sit there with the large box in front of her taking up much of her view, but there wasn’t much else in the way of places to sit in Airi’s room. It wasn’t like she could climb up to Airi’s bed to sit down or anything.
“Ta-dah! Surprise!” Airi pulled a large idol plushie with brown hair and big gray eye out of the box.
Ena gasped. “Is that what I think it is?”
Airi brandished the Minori plush to the sky as though she were presenting it to her audience in a stream. “That’s right, the special, limited edition MORE MORE JUMP plushies are here, ready before they’re even selling online! And here is your Minori plush, just like you asked!”
“Oh, thank you!” Ena said. “I wasn’t expecting you to actually have it so early. I thought sales didn’t start until next week.”
With arms open wide, Ena accepted the plushie into her hands. As if it were a precious little baby, she cradled the mini-Minori close.
Airi shuffled the rest of the plushies around in the box. “The shipment for the merchandise came in early, so I figured I’d get it to you early as a favor. I know you’ve been begging for me to save you a Minori one for weeks,” she said, her voice muffled within the box.
“You got it to me just in time.”
“Just in time, huh?” Airi closed the box and turned to Ena with a smirk on her face. “I knew it.”
Ena looked up from the silly expression on the Minori plushie. “Huh?”
“I was wondering why you kept bringing the plushies up. The second I mentioned we were making them, you couldn’t stop mentioning them. It was a bit of a shift for me because I never thought you were the type to go crazy for our physical merch. Then, I realized...” Airi’s smirked widened. “This is for Mizuki-chan, right?”
Ena’s face went beet red for a second, but her expression quickly went hard as her spikes went up. “W-What gives you that idea? And why are you smirking?!”
Airi let out a little mischievous giggled as she sat down on the cushion next to Ena, clearly excited. Though she tried to suppress the smile out of respect, a crack still leaked on the edges of her lips.
“Well, you told me Mizuki-chan likes Minori a lot, right?” Airi asked. “And you said you’re going to see her for dinner tonight, right?” She winked with a satisfied expression like she’d just effortlessly solved the puzzle Ena had handed her.
Ena let out a loud huff of air as she pressed her hand up against her cheek. Her palm felt cold against her burning face. The mini-Minori in her other hand smiled back at her, blissfully unaware of how uncomfortable she was feeling now that Airi had caught wind of her plan.
“Yeah. I wanted to get Mizuki the plush for her birthday, alright? Happy?” Ena sighed again. She turned to glare at Airi, her barely concealed cheeks even more red than before.
Again, Airi smiled, but, this time, it wasn’t a purposely teasing. Instead, it came off as gentle and caring, enough so that Ena had to look away like she’d just looked into a bright light. Her eyes instead retreated back to the friendly, silly smile of the Minori plushie in her hand. She inspected the thread work of the plushie as though it were the most interesting thing in the room.
“She’s lucky to have you, you know?” Airi said.
An explosion went off in Ena’s chest. Dropping the plush on the floor to free up her other hand, Ena covered her face in pure unfiltered embarrassment. Because words wouldn’t come out, all she could manage was an affirmative grunt. It came out as an even more sheepish squeak.
“Is her birthday today? Could you tell her I said happy birthday when you see her at dinner tonight?” Airi’s voice was low and calm.
Ena latched onto the lifeline that was a normal conversation. “Ah, yeah. She invited us all out to the same restaurant we always go to. We’re all going to share some fries for her birthday.” Ena looked up from her palms, an idea coming to her. “Oh, you could come, too! It’ll be fun and it’ll make explaining the plushie to Mizuki easier!”
“No can do, we’ve got a stream tonight. Minori came up with a new take on spin the bottle for the stream and we’re going to try it out.” Then, the smirk came back to Airi’s face. “Plus, why would I interrupt your birthday date?”
“D-Date?! What?!” Ena jumped up from her cushion, the red returning to her face. “It’s not a date! All of our group is going!”
Airi laughed. “I know. I know. I’m just messing with you,” Airi said. “But you are blushing an awful lot for someone who’s totally not going on a date.”
“I said it’s not,” Ena mumbled without looking Airi in the eyes. A deep, stressed breath escaped her as she bent down to pick up the Minori plushie she’d left on the ground. “Ughh.... I do wish it was, though.”
Not wanting to see whatever face Airi was going to make, Ena turned away preemptively to look out the nearby window. Despite nothing of interest beyond the glass, the daylight outside acted as an escape.
“I know,” Airi said, her voice softly breaking the silence. Ena could hear her standing up. “I’m sorry for teasing you so much about it. From what you’ve told me so far, I’m sure she feels the same way.”
“I don’t know. I mean, I think so too, but, it’s just... she’s so distant sometimes,” Ena said. She squeezed the Minori plushie in her hand. “I can tell something’s bothering her, but she won’t tell me what it is. All I can really do is be there for her, whenever she’s ready.”
“Ena...” Airi grabbed onto Ena’s shoulder.
“Ah, sorry.” Ena turned to face Airi with a nervous laugh. “I didn’t mean to get so emotional there. Uh... I’ve got to get going if I’m going soon if I want to make it on time for the dinner.”
Worry still covered Airi’s face, but she nodded. “Well, tell me how she likes the plushie, okay? I’m always there if you need an ear.” She paused, unsure of what else to say. “I’ll show you out.”
Ena smiled. “Thank you, Airi. I’m sure Mizuki will love it.”