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“I give up, you win.”
Haruka took a shaky step away from her opponent, a younger girl who was staring at her with big eyes. “I did?”
“Yes,” Haruka breathed out, “Congrats, you were really good !”
The people gathered around them erupted into cheers. Their enthusiasm warmed Haruka’s heart. Sotenbori really was a fun city ! It was getting quite cold these days, with everyone covered in several layers of warm, winter clothes, but despite the bite of the cold, dance battles were more popular than ever. Haruka had yet to attend one without an audience. It was like people materialized with the wave of a magic wand the second the first notes of whatever song was picked by the dancers were played.
Today was no exception, and Haruka’s defeat was witnessed by a dozen strangers. No big deal, she thought. You win some, you lose some. And after a long day of training under Mrs Park’s watchful eye, she felt sore and tired, way too exhausted to ask for a rematch.
So she let the competition bask in the warmth of victory while she graciously exited the stage (not that there was a literal, real stage) with every intention to walk back to her flat to crash on her futon.
Instead, she was stopped by a familiar voice, “How come you let that girl win?”
Haruka spun around to find Akari staring at her. She hadn’t noticed her classmate in the crowd. Then again, she never really focused on the people watching her when she danced. Her teacher told her it wouldn’t matter on a real stage anyway, the lights were so blinding up there…
Still, she wasn’t embarrassed to have Akari see her lose, so she greeted her with a smile. “I didn’t. She beat me, that’s all.”
Akari raised an eyebrow. “That’s odd. She was clearly not on your level.”
Was she? Haruka wanted to ask, searching for her opponent in the now dissipating crowd. She felt good enough to her, in the heat of the moment. Now that she was actually looking at her, she was really young. Like twelve, at most. Haruka probably didn’t give it her all, to let such an inexperienced rival get the best of her.
“I guess I’m just tired,” she said with a shrug. “The Princess League finals are coming soon. I trained a lot today already…”
“You should take it easy. It’s not that rare for idols to get burned out because they were not careful.” With clear worry in her eyes, Akari took a step forward, planting herself in front of her. “They’re not working you too hard, are they?”
“No, don’t worry, it’s…” Haruka trailed off, remembering the few really intense sessions where her feet bled and her head spun after one too many hours of practice. Mrs Park said it was all part of the job, and Haruka knew it wasn’t her place to share those problems with her classmate, so she shook her head. “It’s fine, I’m fine.”
Akari looked thoughtful, and it became urgent to change the subject. Thankfully, she was carrying the perfect distraction - a few paper bags, no doubt full of interesting things. So Haruka innocently asked, “You were shopping?”
“Yeah,” Akari said, lifting the heavier looking bag. “I don’t like this time of the year, shops are so packed with people…”
Haruka briefly wondered what she meant by ‘this time of the year’. Then it hit her that Christmas was probably drawing closer. She had been so busy lately, she barely noticed it. With no time for shopping, and her loved ones so far away from her, she wasn’t exactly feeling the holiday spirit this year.
“Ah, that’s true. It was even worse in Tokyo. My-” She got stuck on the word. Haruka was often tempted to say ‘My father’ when mentioning Kiryu, especially when talking with people who did not know him, like Akari, but… She had to settle for something safer instead, “Uncle Kaz, he would butt heads with so many people whenever we were there around Christmas. It’s like there’s something in the air, at this time of the year, that makes people a little crazy.”
“Tell me about it !” Akari laughed. “I suppose it is quite busy here too, but Tokyo… Let’s say I don’t regret leaving, on days like these.”
Haruka congratulated herself mentally - Talking about Tokyo, that was safe. And it was something they had in common ! Even if Haruka came from a bit farther away, when all was said and done, they were both strangers in Sotenbori. And with the way Akari kept mentioning the capital… It was obvious she missed living there. Haruka could relate. Tokyo didn’t rank high on her list of favorite towns, with how many times she or someone she loved got hurt while they were there, but Okinawa? Morning Glory, her home, that she left behind to come here? Every day she missed it a little more.
Like she knew she was thinking about home, Akari wondered, “I assume Okinawa is quieter?”
“It really is ! During winter at least. We get plenty of tourists when it gets hot, so it can get a little too lively during summer,” Haruka explained, reminded of all the times she had to elbow her way through the public market because it was jammed full of visitors. It wasn’t really that tourists were awful, but they could be a handful. They often butted heads with the Ryudo Family, too. Patriarch Nakahara was always complaining about them. “Honestly, even then it’s great.”
Homesickness might have not been the perfect subject she had hoped for after all. Haruka was already feeling nostalgia overwhelm her. She smoothly turned her attention to Akari’s bag again, “So, what did you get?”
“Oh, nothing that exciting. I did find this video game for my little brother, so that’s nice,” she explained with that small smile she often wore. “He’s been bugging my parents for months, I think he’ll be happy.”
“I’m sure he will !” Haruka found herself smiling as well. That was so sweet of her, to go through all this trouble to make her sibling happy. “How old is he?”
“Oh, he’s 8. His name is Shiro.”
The name made Haruka perk up. “One of my foster brothers is called Shiro as well ! He’s not very into video games though.”
She hadn’t talked to Shiro in a while, now that she was thinking about it… Who knows, maybe he did like video games now. He was always a little more reserved than some of the brasher kids, so whenever Haruka called the orphanage, she was lucky if she managed to get three sentences from him. It was never like that, back when she lived there. Shiro might have been shy, but they could always talk. Everything was harder, with distance added to the mix, and without Kiryu to act as mediator.
Blissfully unaware of Haruka’s inner turmoil, Akari exclaimed, “Really? And here I thought they all liked them !”
“Pretty much everyone else at the orphanage likes them, he’s a rare exception I think.”
The conversation flew pretty naturally from there - Haruka talked about the rest of the orphanage and what games they liked, and in return Akari told her all the ways her little brother had been driving their family crazy lately…
It felt nice. Haruka was often a little sad whenever she thought of all the other kids waiting for her back home. To be able to share light anecdotes about her thoroughly missed daily life… She really appreciated it. Even back home, she didn’t have a lot of friends her age. And with her intimidating idol status, her new classmates were a little distant. Akari was a rare exception, and as they talked, Haruka was truly thankful for her kindness.
“It really must be something,” Akari eventually said once Haruka was done telling her about that time Taichi and Mitsuo got into such a heated fight someone punched a hole through a wall. “Living with all those kids, I mean. I bet your flat feels a lot quieter.”
A lot lonelier, you mean. “Yeah.”
Loneliness, she could deal with. It wasn’t easy, of course. Haruka had more or less always lived with other kids, happy to play the older sibling role that made her feel so useful. Being suddenly left to her own devices wasn’t ideal, but she had to soldier on. Becoming an idol, leaving home to chase that fame and money… It was all for the orphanage.
Akari must have realized she wasn’t about to bounce back on this, because she soon asked, “Doing anything fun for Christmas?”
“Ah. No. I need to focus on the finals. There’s no way they’ll let me fly home for the holidays…”
“That’s a shame… I feel like you could really use a break.”
Haruka felt heat go to her cheeks. It was sweet of Akari to care about her. She was always so nice and enthusiastic whenever they met. Haruka couldn’t help but feel like she didn’t deserve her. She hadn’t really made any efforts to fit in with her classmates ever since she arrived in Sotenbori, and she didn’t even recognize Akari, who only shared one class with her, the first time they ran into each other outside of school. And yet Akari was still as friendly as ever, happy to talk to her despite her aloofness.
So to show her she appreciated her concern, and that there was no need to worry, Haruka proudly announced, “I’ll take a break once I’m done with the Princess League !”
Now that was a promise ! One she was making not only to Akari, but to Mrs Park, Kiryu and everyone else at Morning Glory !
… Except that, if she did win, she wouldn’t be getting a break anytime soon. Will she ever see Okinawa again, once she becomes a real, full-time idol?
Akari cut her pity party short with an unexpected question, “Say, what was that move you used earlier? That punch-the-air thing you did at the end?”
“Why?” Haruka gasped, pretending to sound shocked, “You wanna put it in a choreography?”
“Not without asking, don’t worry. I’m curious, that’s all. It felt really unique, I had never seen anything like it.” There was that little light in Akari’s eyes again. Haruka had noticed she always looked so radiantly inspired whenever they talked about dancing. It truly suited her. You could tell her dream to become a choreographer meant the world to her. “You can’t blame me for being interested in new dance moves, that’s kind of my thing.”
“It’s because it’s not really a dance move.”
She would have loved to keep it at this evasive half-answer, but Akari was staring at her with such curious, intense eyes, that Haruka had to add, “It’s, uh… Uncle Kaz has that move. When he fights. He calls it the Tiger Drop. It’s sort of…” She adopted the stance she had seen her father figure execute a hundred times, with her own twist on it. Legs a little less rigid, shoulders less hunched, but she still punched the air with the same ferocity. “You know?”
“So you…” Akari said, incredulous. “You turned a yakuza street fight technique into a dance move?”
Having never heard anyone describe it out loud, Haruka was left with the realization it sounded a little dumb. She gave a hesitant smile. “...Yes?”
Akari burst into laughter. Haruka would have been offended, but her laugh was contagious, so she ended up joining in, almost missing Akari’s friendly jeer, “You’re something, alright !”
“What? You said it looked unique, so it worked, right?”
“Yeah,” she admitted, in a more serious tone, “You’d make anything look beautiful, though.”
Haruka didn’t know what to do with this particular compliment (beautiful?) so she awkwardly bowed her head instead. Akari herself looked a little taken off-guard by her own words, hurriedly taking a step back.“Well. I gotta go, those Christmas gifts are not going to buy themselves.” She was in such a hurry to leave that Haruka wondered if she was just going to run away, but she waved at her instead, her bright smile back on her lips. “Take a break, Haruka, okay? Talk to you soon.”
“Okay,” she absent-mindedely said, waving back, “Bye Akari…”
She watched her disappear in the distance, wondering why that particular word (beautiful??) had made her stomach flutter.
—-----------------
“Oh my gosh it was AMAZING !”
His arms high in the air, Taichi was beyond ecstatic. In fact, he was so excited Haruka was having trouble keeping up with him, almost running to match his quick pace. It was annoying, but she couldn’t really complain - when she accepted to go see that wrestling show with him, she knew Taichi was going to be a handful. His dream of becoming a wrestler himself might have been long forgotten about, abandoned to pursue what he called a more noble goal, but he still behaved like when they were kids whenever he watched fighters go at it. With boundless glee and enthusiasm. She loved this about him, even if right now she was tired of dodging equally excited wrestling fans to run after him.
“Thanks so much for tagging along !” Taichi said once she was back at his level. “Can you believe no one else wanted to come? Cowards, the lot of them !”
Relieved that he was slowing down, Haruka took a few seconds to catch her breath. “Ah, I’m sure they would have loved to be here, Taichi, but they’re probably busy. Christmas is in a few weeks, after all.”
“So?” Taichi almost bumped into a really big, menacing man as he turned towards her. Haruka braced herself, all too familiar with the easily agitated crowd of the capital. The smallest interaction could lead to a fight, so close to Kamurocho… Fortunately, the guy just kept walking, even if he frowned ominously at them. “We never really did anything special for Christmas, back when we were little, I don’t know why everyone is acting like it’s a big deal all of a sudden.”
He might have been exaggerating a little. Haruka remembered the bright lights and stores bursting with people of her youth. And sure, the orphanage never had the money (or time) for big celebrations, but Kiryu always got them something nice on Christmas… Even when he was away from them, that year she tried (and failed) to become an idol, he sneakily sent them money despite Mirei Park’s warnings not to interfere with them anymore. The thought always made Haruka smile, though it stung in a particular way now that Kiryu was gone from their lives. So she simply said, careful not to sound too sad as she didn’t want to rain on Taichi’s parade, “Well. It’s a nice holiday for couples and families…”
“Good thing Yuta is okay with babysitting then, huh?” Taichi giggled.
“It’s not babysitting when it’s your own kid.”
She might have gotten a tad defensive for what was really a harmless barb, the kind Taichi directed only at people he truly loved, but Haruka couldn’t help being a little on the edge whenever people talked about her relationship with Yuta. The years had passed, Haruto was growing up a little more each day, and yet it felt like they still didn’t really know where they stood. No one could argue Yuta wasn’t pulling his weight around the orphanage, and Haruka knew she trusted and even loved him, but… It was hard, defining this relationship. They were Haruto’s parents, and for now, that was it.
Since he had the gall to make her overthink things, Haruka was ready to counterattack by calling out Taichi for his long-term single status, when they were interrupted by a woman running up to them.
“Excuse me, are you…” she hesitantly asked, “Haruka?”
Taken aback, Haruka looked her up and down. She… Didn’t know that woman, did she? It looked like she was her age, young but with slightly tired eyes. Eyes that, now that she was looking at them closely, shined in a particular way…
“... Akari?”
The second the name escaped her lips, she knew it had to be her. And the relief flooding her old classmate’s face confirmed it, too ! Akari hadn’t changed a whole lot, and even if she obviously sounded more mature now, Haruka sort of recognized the cheerful voice she used to take, all those years ago, “Wow, I can’t believe you remember me ! It’s been ages !”
Haruka smiled. An entire decade had passed… And yet Akari hadn’t forgotten her. How crazy was that ! She saw her from a distance… And she recognized her. Even better, Haruka did too. She hadn’t embarrassed herself by forgetting the name of her classmate, like she did that first time they ran into each other in front of her flat in Sotenbori.
“Ten years,” she said wistfully. Times had been flying even faster than usual ever since Haruto’s birth. To think that all the Sotenbori debacle happened such an eternity ago… “Are you back in Tokyo?”
“Yeah. I work in an office, a couple of blocks from here,” Akari explained, vaguely gesturing at the street behind her. “I was about to grab something to eat, then I saw you from afar…” On cue, a rather large and agitated group of wrestling fans walked by them, loud and electrified after such an intense show. Haruka had been so busy focusing on the surprise return of her old classmate that she had almost forgotten where they were coming from. “Was there a concert or something?”
“Huh-”
“It was Wyvern Gate’s last winter show !!” Taichi enthusiastically barked on her right, and Haruka realized she had sort of forgotten he was there too. Before she could introduce him, he had offered his hand to Akari, “Hi, I’m Taichi.”
“Hello, nice to meet you, I’m Akari Natsukawa, I shared a class with Haruka in high school.” A little intimidated, Akari still shook Taichi’s hand politely. Then she looked at them with a small smile, “So, you two are…”
Realizing the implication, Haruka hurried to clear up what was shaping up to be an uncomfortable misunderstanding,“Oh. No. He’s my brother.”
She didn’t bother saying ‘foster brother’ anymore. The first generation of Morning Glory kids, the one Kiryu raised, were her siblings now. After years of dancing around words, they all grew up and their bonds got stronger.
“Yeah, I’m the jerk who dragged her to a silly wrestling show,” Taichi added, his smile ever so bright. He then patted Haruka on the shoulder, pointing at a bar nearby, “I’m gonna let you girls catch up, I’ll be over there. I yelled so much, I’m parched ! You two take your time, okay?”
In a few hasty steps, he vanished into the crowd. He was tall enough that Haruka could still see him even as he walked away. Once he was truly out of sight, she turned to Akari, just as she said, “He seems nice.”
“He’s great,” Haruka nodded, struggling to hide the fondness in her voice. Taichi had been such an important pillar in her life these past few years. His cheerful mood and boundless energy were invaluable assets when trying to keep a pack of rowdy kids busy, and she was truly thankful that he decided to stick around the orphanage for so long.
Singing her brother’s praises would have to wait, though. This surprise reunion with Akari required all her attention. What were the odds that they would run into each other again?
“It’s wild running into you,” she said, “I rarely visit Tokyo these days…”
This made Akari perk up, “Are you… Living in Okinawa again?”
“Yes. I run the orphanage now.” Even if Morning Glory was less an orphanage than a big, communal house these days, Haruka still took pride in her work. Her awkward years of trying to fit in Kiryu’s shoes were gone, she was confident that she was doing a good job now. One that mattered, one she wanted to do. Still, there was a hint of hesitation in her voice as she explained, “It’s small, we don’t have… Lots of new kids, but it’s nice.”
She doubted her friend would care about the logistics of running an orphanage. In fact, while she was fumbling with her words, Akari was looking at her with a puzzled expression.
And then she said, so low it was almost inaudible, “Ah. So you didn’t make it either.”
The wistful sadness in her tone struck Haruka more than the harshness of her words. She hadn’t really realized what ‘I work nearby’ implied. Akari might have not said outright what she did for a living, but Haruka could tell it wasn’t what she had hoped for. Her dream of becoming a choreographer… Just like Haruka’s idol career, it had been nipped in the bud.
Akari immediately frowned, bending down slightly as she apologized, “Sorry, that was… Really rude. I get weird at this time of the year.”
“Yeah, I remember. Don’t worry.”
“No, I was way out of line. Sorry.” She had such an honest, charming smile, Haruka found it hard to be crossed with her. “I remember… The way you used to talk about that orphanage. It meant so much to you… It must be really fulfilling to be in charge of it now.”
Haruka nodded, “It is. It’s not easy everyday, but I like what I do.”
Even with its shaky start, the conversation started flowing pretty naturally from there. It was pretty nostalgic, Haruka thought. Back then, she used to be impressed with how normal it felt to be chatting with Akari. They never got to grow as close as she would have liked, but spending time with her was the closest she ever got to having a friend her age. Each encounter with her was a nice break in her idol routine, where the only people she interacted with were adults who wanted to turn her into something she wasn’t… And other idols ready to tear her down. It never got ugly per say, but Haruka was glad Akari had been her to give her a little glimpse of what a normal teenager’s life felt like.
So many things had changed since their high school days, and yet, as they found a bench to sit on while they talked, Haruka couldn’t help but feel the same carefree giddiness as Akari told her about her life. She worked for a small company as a junior accountant, something she swore wasn’t as boring as it sounded, as her coworkers were all pretty friendly. Haruka would have never dared to call anyone’s job boring, as a lifetime of meeting strange fellows with unexpectedly eventful daily lives taught her not to make such assumptions, but… As she talked about her own routine, the kids, her family… She couldn’t help but notice a glint of sadness in Akari’s eyes.
Still, she smiled when she said, “I… I was there, you know. At your first concert.”
“My last concert,” Haruka corrected her. DreamLine’s debut (and end) was not exactly a sore spot, she was able to think about it without being flooded with regrets now, but it was never exactly pleasant. “So you heard my…”
“Your farewell speech?” The wording was very flattering, Haruka thought she didn’t deserve it. She had sabotaged her own career in front of a stunned audience, had run away only to make life more difficult for the family she desperately wanted to return to, and then Kiryu paid the ultimate price. All because of that speech.Haruka had plenty of time to digest it, to be told it wasn’t actually her fault, that the horrible network of yakuza and politicians that had hovered over them her entire life were to blame, but she still frowned, letting Akari continue, “I did. Everyone talked about it long after you were gone from Sotenbori.”
Nodding absent-mindedely, Haruka almost wanted to add that people kept talking about it everywhere. Even to this day, rumors of Morning Glory being a yakuza runned business used as a money laundering front were hard to kill. “Yeah… That was a little stupid.”
Akari looked truly surprised, “No, I… I think it was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”
While the admiration in Akari’s voice made her blush, Haruka wasn’t sure she could let her say this. Her so-called brave stand had terrible consequences. Opening up during that concert led to the orphanage getting targeted by paparazzis. It led to her running away from home. It led to Kiryu-
She shook her head, more to chase the mental picture of her adoptive father bleeding out in her arms than anything, “C’mon, it wasn’t such a big deal.”
“Not a big deal? You stood tall in front of all those people, and you spoke your truth, it was… It was incredible !” Jumping to her feet, Akari faced her, “I know it’s useless saying this since I never became a choreographer but in that moment, I… I was so inspired. You really made me wanna pursue my dream, Haruka. For me, not for anyone else.”
“Akari…” was all Haruka could muster in response. She hadn’t expected such a passionate defense of her mistakes. Not from someone she hadn’t seen in years. The passion in Akari’s voice, the same she used to hear whenever she daydreamed about her future career in the music industry… To have it directed at her was so surprising.
“But… Well, life got in the way. I had to care about my mother. Get a real job, like she said. So I did, and now…” Akari trailed off, almost like she intended to keep it at that. She was a little more cheerful as she continued, though Haruka could still sense that melancholy in her words, “I still dance, and I still do my own choreographies, but it’s not the same, you know?”
“I know the feeling. When I sing these days, it’s just for me, or for the kids, and I like it that way… I really do ! But sometimes…” It was Haruka’s turn to hesitate. Her complicated feelings about music, about what it meant to sing in front of all those people.. She usually kept them under lock and key. She loved her family dearly, but she never really felt the need to share this with them. But Akari… She would understand. “I can’t help but wonder about what could have been…”
Deep down, Haruka knew she would have never felt truly fulfilled as an idol. But had she made different choices in the way she ended her career, everything could have been different. There were things she would never, ever regret (meeting the Hirose family, Yuta, having Haruto, working for Kiyomi) and things she desperately wished she could have prevented.
As if she had been reading her mind, Akari bowed her head, “I was very sorry to hear about your father.”
“You… Know about that?”
“I was already living here when it happened. And trust me, no one could have walked anywhere near Kamurocho and not know something had happened to the yakuza there. They were…Well, they were mourning, I guess?” Coming back to sit on the bench as if she felt awkward being the only one standing up, Akari shook her head, “Even nobodies civilians like me eventually heard about what happened.”
It made Haruka happier than she thought it would, to hear the town had mourned their dragon. Wherever he went, Kiryu helped people. Fought people, too. It was nice, in a way, to learn that they remembered him. “He had such an impact on people… Everyone he met.”
“So I’ve heard.” Akari’s hand brushed over hers, making Haruka lose track of what she was thinking about. She was wearing gloves, so it wasn’t exactly direct contact, but Haruka still felt a very confusing warmth spread from her hand to the rest of her body. “He must have been a truly exceptional man, to raise someone as brave as you.”
“Akari, I’m not…” she mumbled, not taking her hand away. “I’m not really brave.”
“You’re brave and humble, then,”
All this complimenting wasn’t helping. Haruka vaguely remembered feeling equally flustered, a lifetime ago, over Akari saying something similar to her… Things really hadn’t changed all that much. Once more, she was left unsure of what to say.
And once more, Akari stood up, asking hesitantly, “Hey, do you… Want to come with me? I wasn’t going to a fancy restaurant or anything, but you could join me…?”
“Oh, I’d love to,” Haruka said, thankfully finding her voice again, “But I… I should really get going, Taichi is waiting for me.”
“Ah, of course.”
So this was it. Time to say goodbye and return to their lives. Despite her frustration, Haruka gave her brightest smile, trying to sound as casual as she could, “It was nice seeing you again, Akari.”
“Take care,” Akari said in return, already stepping away, “I’m really glad I ran into you.”
Like she did many years ago, Haruka watched her leave, replaying what had been said in her head while the most confusing dizziness forced her to stay on the bench for a few more minutes.
Once she was done trying (and failing) to make sense of what had just transpired, she started to move as well. She found Taichi near one of the bars as expected, a beer can in hand and a surprised look on his face, “Your friend left already?”
Haruka nodded, “She asked me if I wanted to grab a bite with her, but… I wasn’t going to leave you all alone, right?”
“What…Oh,” Taichi sighed, his hand hitting his forehead in an exaggerated facepalm. “Oh man, you’re just as thick as Uncle Kaz.”
“... Huh?”
“When someone asks you on a date and you’re a lonely loser, you’re supposed to say yes, Haruka !” To hear him say this (a date??) took her by surprise, so much so that she almost missed him muttering under his breath, “Especially when it’s a cute girl like this, jeez.”
“I’m-” Speechless for the second time tonight, Haruka struggled to find a coherent retort. “I’m not lonely. At all.”
“And yet you’re alone with me while everyone else is planning their lovey-dovey Christmas dates.”
He had a point. Except…
“But… Yuta-”
Sipping on his beer like he wasn’t extremely out of line, Taichi nonchalantly cut her off, “You guys have a no-string attached kind of deal, right?” Haruka must have pulled a face, because he was quick to explain himself, in a way less casual tone this time, “Ayako told Izumi. Then she told Mitsuo who told me.”
Haruka gave a frustrated sigh. Morning Glory was a big, beautiful family that she wouldn’t trade for the world, but Morning Glory was also full of nasty little gossipers. She made a mental note to remember to give Ayako a piece of her mind. She didn’t want the entire orphanage snooping around her already complicated relationship.
Because irritatingly enough, Taichi was right, Yuta and her sometimes saw other people. It didn’t happen very often, as they were living busy lives, but it was always an option. Not that it mattered here. Surely Akari wasn’t after… Anything like this?
Taichi was still talking, not put off by her stunned silence, “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you got to know your little high school crush better. If it becomes serious, you can always talk things through with him again, work out a new arrangement or something.”
Alright, this was getting freaky. Haruka elbowed him, “Since when are you this perceptive?”
“I know, right? Can you believe I’m still single?”
She never understood why no one seemed to want Taichi, no. He was charming and fun, and extremely loyal. Annoying, too, but in an endearing way. Before she could tell him just that, Taichi had already gulped whatever was left of his beer, throwing the empty can in the nearest trash bin.
“I tell you what I’m gonna do; I’m going to leave you here,” he explained, a hand clasped on Haruka’s shoulder. “I’ll see if anyone in this crowd of excited wrestling fans wanna fight. And then I’ll get a Smile Burger and go crash on old man Akiyama’s couch.” Gently, he pushed her in the other direction. “You run after your friend.”
“But Taichi-”
Waving a finger in her face, Taichi followed through with his threats, and he ditched her, running away with the same urgency he displayed earlier.
Left on her own with a growing wave of confusing thoughts swirling in her head, Haruka was at a loss on what to do next for a few heartbeats. It wasn’t like she could just run after Akari, right?
She did just that.
It was less dramatic than expected, because Akari hadn’t actually gotten all that far, stuck behind a very slow and very noisy group of wannabe wrestlers, but Haruka was still a bit out of breath as she caught up to her, “Wait, I-”
Akari spun around, and it took Haruka longer than she would have liked to say, “I wouldn’t mind, actually… Huh… Grabbing a bite.”
“Oh. But what about your brother?”
“He’ll be fine. He’s all riled up after that show, looks like he won’t miss me after all.”
An incredibly charming smile appeared on Akari’s face. Haruka hated to think that Taichi was probably right about this crush thing. “Well. Lucky me, then.”
“So… Where did you wanna go?”
Akari pointed at the street ahead of them, “There’s a pretty cute restaurant over there, I’ve always wanted to give it a try.”
“Okay. It’s not far from the karaoke bar, if you wanna-”
“Oh no ! No no no,” Akari protested, with a healthy blush on her cheeks. Haruka couldn’t help but find her reaction adorable. “I can dance all you want, but my singing is just too embarrassing, I could never !”
Haruka gave a laugh, not wanting to admit she really wanted to hear her sing now. She’ll try to coax her into giving karaoke a try later, the night was still young after all…
As they walked away, not quite hand in hand, but closer than you’d expect friends to be, Haruka was a little annoyed to spot Taichi on the other side of the road, giving her a double thumbs up as if he was being incredibly stealthy. Akari didn’t seem to notice, already explaining what kind of food the restaurant she wanted to go served. Her brother’s nosiness wasn’t enough to sour her mood though. Neither was the snow that was starting to fall, or the fact that she had no idea where she would sleep tonight if Taichi had ditched her for good.
Nothing really mattered, she wanted to see where this would go. So she followed her old classmate, a little confused but eager for what was to come.