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A cheerful hum vibrated through Minako's lips as she wandered down the hall. After that much needed trip to Yakushima, having a heart-to-heart with Yukari, gaining a new teammate in Aigis and then coming home to lovely weather and a lively atmosphere at Gekkoukan? She was in pretty high spirits.
Thinking about it, this might be the best mood she'd been in in ages. In the past whenever something good happened, something bad just had to accompany it. And while you could definitely say that the truth behind the Moonlight Bridge incident and their mission was extremely bad news, Minako had to admit that she honestly found it to be a pretty big relief. After all, now they actually knew what their objectives was. Just take out those big shadows and everything would be A-OK again!
Minako turned the corner with a slight skip as she decided to meet up with Maiko today; might as well enjoy the weather while it was nice and besides, she'd picked out some beautiful seashells from Yakushima just for Maiko!
She couldn't help but smile as she imagined the look on Maiko's face when she saw the seashells.
"Hey!"
"Hm?" Minako's humming stopped after hearing an urgent whisper. She turned to see a girl with short black hair staring at her with an intense glare. After noticing she had Minako's attention, she beckoned her over.
"Oh! Mitsuru's groupie! How are ya?" Minako cheerfully greeted her as she walked over.
"I have a name, y'know…" The girl muttered with an unimpressed stare, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks. Was her love of Mitsuru really the main thing people remembered her by?
"Well, yeah, but you've never told me your name soooo…"
"It's Mizuki Shiratori."
"Okay! I'll remember that, Mizu-chan!"
"Straight to nicknames?!"
"What? You want something cuter? What about 'Mimi'? Ooh, or what about 'Zuzu'?! That's pretty cute, right?" Minako giggled brightly.
Mizuki sighed, clearly not going to win this no matter what she did. "No… Mizu-chan's fine, I guess…"
"Alright, so did you need something, Mizu-chan? I was kinda on my way to meet someone." Minako turned back to their original topic, whatever it was.
Mizuki's face turned serious again, scowling intensely as she leaned in closer to Minako. "… Is it true that everyone in your dorm went to Yakushima over the break? I heard Iori bragging about it to his friends."
"Yeah, we did. It was a really pretty beach too, I recommend it!"
"…So then… did you see Mitsuru-senpai in a swimsuit?" Mizuki asked the burning question on her mind, her knuckles turning white as she clenched her fists tighter and tighter.
Minako blinked, seeming a little baffled by the question. "Yeah, I did."
Mizuki had to bite her lip to stop herself from shouting in the middle of the school hallway.
A cheeky grin spread across Minako's face. "3000¥ for a picture."
"Wha-?!" Mizuki wasn't sure what irritated her more: The fact that Minako was making that offer or the fact that she was tempted to take it.
Her fists trembled as she tried her best to control herself. She needed that money for more important things! Don't just give it to this annoyingly lucky girl for pictures of your crush in a swimsuit! Be strong, Mizuki!
Minako tilted her head with an innocent smile. "Are you not interested?"
Mizuki bit the inside of her cheek and spoke through gritted teeth. "This sounds shady, so I'm good."
With a shrug of her shoulders, Minako turned to the side and spoke in a wistful tone. "Oh well, your loss… Mitsuru-senpai really was gorgeous… With that sexy but elegant swimsuit and that flower as the cherry on top? Anyone would have thought she was a model…"
"Is that so…?" Mizuki hissed, looking down at the ground and clenching every muscle in her body to stop herself from pouncing at this girl.
Minako seemed to catch on to this, looking at Mizuki with a curious expression. However, it wasn't long before she leaned down to make eye contact with her while wearing the biggest smirk on her face.
"… Are you jealous~?"
Mizuki saw red.
Her eye twitched.
She stood up straight. Minako followed, that smirk still on her damn face.
"Jealous…?" Mizuki grabbed onto Minako's ribbon and pulled her closer, glaring deep into her eyes. "Of course, I'm jealous! Are you dumb?! Do you have any idea how lucky you are?! You live in the same dorm as Mitsuru-senpai, you're part of the student council alongside Mitsuru-senpai, AND you got to go to beach with Mitsuru-senpai and see her in a swimsuits?!"
Minako surprisingly managed to keep her cool, smiling sweetly at the enraged girl holding her in place. "We also stayed at Mitsuru-senpai's summer home."
"YOU STAYED AT MITSURU-SENPAI'S HOUSE?!"
"Keep your voice down, yeah? Don't want that idiot Ekoda yelling at you, right?" Minako softly reminded her, catching a few students glancing over at them.
"Goddammit…! It's not fair!" Mizuki half growled, half whined as she released her vice grip on Minako's ribbon.
"Why is this such a big deal to you?" Asked Minako, fixing her now lopsided ribbon.
"Why is…? Because you get to live and work with the most gorgeous girl in the entire world!"
"That's a little mean, isn't it? There's plenty of other girls just as gorgeous as Mitsuru-senpai."
"Oh yeah?! Name one! I've never seen one!" Mizuki could barely think straight at this point. Her brainpower had been overtaken by the boiling blood coursing through her veins.
Minako cutely tilted her head. "Oh, don't sell yourself short, you're pretty dang cute."
"You making fun of me?!"
"Nope, I mean it. Like, your eyes, for example: They're so bright and clear, I can see why your parents named you after crystal."
"You're actually comparing me to Mitsuru-senpai in terms of beauty?! Are you stupid?! Why do you think I'm not brave enough to talk to her?!"
"I dunno… Maybe you just don't have enough confidence yet?"
"Yeah, no duh, who could have guessed?"
"Wow, you're pretty pissed, huh?"
"And whose fault is that?!"
"I'm just saying maybe if you felt better about yourself, you'd be able to work up the nerve to talk to Mitsuru-senpai."
Mizuki hated how much that made sense.
"Th-Then how the heck am I supposed to do that?"
Minako tapped her index finger against her chin and hummed as she gave it some thought. "Well… It's basic but trying a new look and taking care of your appearance has been proven to boost confidence… So what about getting some new clothes? Like, nice ones that you could wear to special occasions?"
"Nice clothes? Like what? You think that would get Mitsuru-senpai's attention?!" Mizuki snapped, really not seeing how this idea was supposed to work. Was this girl trying to mess with her or was she being serious?! She couldn't tell anymore!
"It's not to impress Mitsuru-senpai, it's to make you feel good about yourself. Just find something that you feel happy wearing."
"Like what?"
"I mean, shops have the new Summer lines in already… Why not look for a really pretty sundress or something? It'd be really easy to accessorise with too."
"Accessorise? With what exactly?"
"Do you want me to help you out?"
"Are you making fun of me?! What makes you think I can't do it myself?!"
"You keep sounding kinda confused…"
"Because you keep confusing me!"
"Either way, stuff like this is always easier when you can get a second opinion, right? So if want me to-"
"I never asked for your help!"
"I never offered, I just suggested going shopping. Did you want me to come?"
"No???"
"But you just said-"
"I never said anything!"
"So you want me to stay home?"
"I didn't say that! Stop putting words in my mouth!"
"Okay, cool, so are you free on Saturday?"
"Obviously."
"Great! Then I'll meet you at Iwatodai Station at 12:00! See you then! We'll make you look drop dead gorgeous!"
"Okay, fine! I'll look forward to it!" Mizuki huffed in annoyance while Minako smiled sweetly and waved goodbye.
The fuming girl watched the brunette continue waving at her until she rounded the corner and disappeared down the stairs. What the hell was her problem? Was she actually trying to help or was she just trying to wind her up? She'd just have to try and get a straight answer out of her when they met up on Saturday…
…
… Huh?
Mizuki stood frozen in place, staring at the corner she last saw Minako with a perplexed expression.
"… What just happened?"