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Amaya sighed, bored out of her mind. This was their first ever fan event as a group, but she couldn't particularly find it in herself to be either excited or nervous. Perhaps, as Seikai theorised, she had subconsciously exhausted herself with anxiety the day before, or something like that.
Maybe it was the truth, maybe it wasn't. Only God knows at the end of the day. Or anyone, for that matter. Maybe even Buddha, for all she knew. She prayed anyway, just in case she really had exhausted herself prematurely.
Whatever it was, she was glad that she had the energy to get through their first performance in front of people. The fans were nice enough so far, even if they skipped over her completely compared to the other members.
Amaya spared a glance down the relatively short line and sighed quietly to herself once again. She quietly thanked God that their fandom was so small. She looked to her other group mates and mistakenly caught the eyes of Chiyoko. The leader that she was, she sent her own pointed glare that all but screamed at her to behave.
'At least we're finishing soon,' Amaya thought to herself as yet another fan skipped over her, and Seikai for once. They rewarded the ass hole with a single glare, figuring it was safe enough, considering there was no cameras focused on either of them at the moment.
She was nearly about to allow herself to zone out before she heard excited chatter beside her. Amaya turned her head to her right and found the source of such excitement.
His (?) purple updo bobbed up and down, he wrung his hands, which Amaya noticed were decorated with acrylics, styled in a similar colour to her undercut.
"I'm sorry if I'm talking too fast— Ami I talking too fast? I don't mean to, please tell me if I—"
"You're fine, sir. I promise," Seikai reassured halfheartedly. She didn't look to be fully listening anyway.
The man hunched his shoulders, obviously embarrassed by Seikai's (accidental) harsh tone. "I…I'm sorry I…" He reached into his bag and fumbled a crocheted plush out of it. "I made this…I'm really sorry if it's not that good…"
Almost immediately, Seikai brightened, staring at the little plush in awe. She gently took it, gushing enthusiastically about how cute it was to the shy fan.
Amaya mentally shrugged and tuned the fan out. At least Seikai was being a bit nicer to the poor thing.
That was, until, said fan paused in front of her. He stared, nearly gobsmacked as he bit his lip in his obvious excitement. Amaya showed a smile and shook his hand as she needed to do, and expected the oddly polite fan to be on his marry way.
Except, he stayed where he stood, hunching his shoulders and shifting from foot to foot.
Oh, right. Fan service, or whatever. He must have paid good money to be here, or was just being really generous.
"Aren't you cute?" Amaya mused, grinning at him.
The man snapped his posture right up and shouted. Amaya could feel her neck burn up as the rest of her members spared a long glance at her, half concerned and half frightened. She forced her smile to relax and not morph into a clear cringe.
"Oh, is my accent weird?" Amaya asked, crossing her arms. "I said you're cute. Should I say it again—"
"NO!" The fan shouted, waving his hands about in a flustered frenzy. "No, no, no, it's fine! Thank you, I—I understood you just fine!"
Amaya hummed, watching as the fan's face burned brightly. He didn't move to walk away, or make an effort to do anything but look vaguely horrified. Or, at least, what Amaya presumed was horror.
Amaya glanced to her manager behind the curtain, who nodded approvingly. The fan must have paid REALLY good money if he was to stay for such a long time.
Realising the poor thing had withdrawn back into his metaphorical shell and wouldn't be one to start any conversations, Amaya coughed politely to get his attention.
"And?" She tried.
The fan blinked. "Huh…?"
"What about me?" Amaya asked. "Don't you find me cute too?"
She subtly bit her tongue to stop an embarrassed laugh from slipping through. She's an idol, after all.
"I…" The fan stumbled over his words, glancing this way and that before deciding to be oddly interested in the contents of his bag, mumbling.
Amaya let out a playful scoff, though not too bothered. "Come on, it's not that hard a question," she teased, popping her hands behind her back, pursing her lips. "Shame, I was sure the feeling was mutual. Am I not your type? I was sure that I—"
"No, you are!" The fan shouted again, his face turning a shade so dark that it nearly matched the purple of his hair. Which was impressive, all things considered, since Amaya wouldn't have ever thought such a thing was physically possible.
The fan seemed to realise what he said, and nearly tripped over himself, both in speech and by his own two feet. "Y-you're not MY type! Well, you are, but not like that! You're really pretty— I mean, not THE prettiest, but…well, my favourite of the group…and…you…you know…"
Amaya laughed despite herself. "Wasn't that hard to admit?"
"Hm…" The fan quietly grumbled, fiddling with his key chain that immediately piqued Amaya's attention.
"Hey, let me see that."
"Huh? Oh…sure."
The fan pulled his bag in front of himself and presented the key chain, which she realised was similar to the one he gave to Seikai—
Amaya nearly shouted in delight. "Is that Aggretsuko!?"
Immediately, the fan perked up, beaming. "Yeah, it is! Are you a fan?"
"Of course I am!" Amaya cried out, leaning closer to look at the crochet work. "I've never seen this type of merch before! Is it official? Where did you find it?"
The fan blushed lightly. "Actually, I made it myself."
It was Amaya's turn to shout, unable to stop herself this time. "No way!" She cried. "It's so cute! Did you really do it yourself?"
"Yeah, I-I did! Honest!"
"That's so cool! You're so talented, I couldn't ever—"
"Mara."
Amaya looked up from the plush. She realised she was grinning a bit stupidly and cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed. "Huh?"
"My name." The fan mumbled. "It's…um…Mara…"
Oh. Right. She mentally kicked herself.
"It's nice to meet you, Mara." Amaya said, still admiring the Aggretsuko plush.
Her gaze was torn away when the bag shifted in front of her view, and before she could think about it, Mara was presenting her with—
Amaya truly wasn't able to contain her squeal of excitement, her hand coming up to cover her mouth, nearly vibrating where she stood.
"Oh my goodness, is that for me!?" Amaya gasped out, delicately holding it while it was still cupped in Mara's outstretched hands. He mumbled something or other, flinching when their hands brushed together. They were softer than she had expected.
Mara cleared his throat, more for nerves rather than to get the idol's attention, but Amaya looked up anyway. She was surprised by the shade of purple his eyes were, even more so the bags that seemed to make his eyes wider, more expressive, even.
"You don't have to take it—"
"No, no! I love it! It's adorable! Thank you so much for making it!" She gushed breathlessly, already working the plush pin into her belt. It settled at her hip, and she grinned at Mara, who snapped his head up, his face reddening for the umpteenth time. "We're like twins, right?" Amaya giggled.
Amaya realised she wasn't much better with her staring. So much so, she had forgotten to continue the conversation. "Do you have a favourite character, or is it just Aggretsuko?"
Almost immediately, Mara's face lit up again. It reminded Amaya of an old, flickering lamp, which would brighten and dim at a moment's notice.
"Tsunoda!" Mara said gleefully. "I know most people find her annoying, but I can't help but find her super cute! It's—It's like I see myself in her, you know? That might sound weird, or strange, and…it maybe is…but…but…" He dimmed again, retreating backwards.
"I personally really like Shikabane." Amaya said. "I know she's one of the newer characters, but her style is something I find really cute! I also like Fenneko, but recently, Shikabane's become my all time favourite!" Mara was lighting back up again with every word. Perfect.
"You were saying about Tsunoda?"
"Oh, right! Tsunoda!"
Amaya listened to Mara go on and on, letting in her own opinions and praises slip in from time to time. She didn't even register the tail end of the fans skipping her, and Mara didn't seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings either.
It was only after hearing a hiss from the curtains that paused their conversations.
Amaya looked back to Mara and blinked. She didn't even notice the fan event had ended, and judging by Mara's visible panic, he didn't notice a thing either.
"I'm so sorry—"
The both of them paused, blinking at one another before bursting into fits of laughter.
"I-I'm so sorry, Amaya, I didn't mean to waste—"
"No, no! I'm sorry for getting carried away!"
Amaya could feel herself nearly laughing again, and was barely able to stop herself this time. Really, it was Mara's fault she couldn't hold it in anymore by laughing first.
"Give me your hand, Mara." Amaya ordered. She reached behind her and picked up a pen that one of the staff members must have forgotten to pick up. Perhaps purposefully, perhaps not.
Mara obeyed, and Amaya gently took it into her own. She shook the pen and scratched the ink into her own skin before writing into the fan's palm. "Here's my social. Don't share it around, okay? I wanna talk to you more." She closed his hand into a fist for him, patting it with a grin. After another brief thought, she gave him the pen too. They've plenty of pens backstage, after all.
Amaya patted the hand-made Aggretsuko plush at her hip. "Talk to you soon, sweetheart!" She said it as easily as she breathed. Amaya was vaguely aware of Mara's squeak from behind her, but thought against turning around.
As soon as Amaya was behind the curtains, Chiyoko was the first to get to her. Amaya briefly considered turning back around and rushing after Mara to leave with him, but decided that would arguably make things worse.
But she wasn't reprimanded as she feared. In fact, the older woman simply guided her to the chairs set up, handed her a bottle of water, and left to chat with their manager.
Seikai dragged her chair in front of Amaya as soon as Chiyoko was gone. The younger member excitedly elbowed her older.
"So," She said, "Boring, or what?"
Amaya could feel herself burn all over. She had forgotten her friend's theory. She shook her head, already taking out her phone. "Not boring.
She opted to ignore Seikai's obvious ogling at her new plush gifted by the shy fan. Amaya couldn't help but smile to herself seeing he had already sent a follow request, running her fingers over it without realising it.
"Definitely not boring."