5th of January, 8:30 pm, Streets of Tokyo
The bright and packed streets of Tokyo feel like a dream. Ruby and Keiko are walking down a busy sidewalk, holding each other's hands to not lose each other in the big crowd of salarymen rushing home to their families.
They walk without any real destination. Ruby is still trying to figure out what they could do.
Keiko wouldn't want me to spend any more money on her.
And I get it, it can be totally embarrassing when somebody else pays for you.
But like… Should we just sit down in a park and stare at a tree?
The crowd around them becomes smaller as they pass by a train station, leaving them surrounded by only a few people, yet the sound of quick steps and passing cars is still prominent. Suddenly, Ruby hears a light growl coming from her left.
When Ruby turns around, she can see Keiko quickly avoiding her eyes, her pale cheeks dipped in red, a light blush creeping over her face.
"Oh? What was that?"
Ruby's voice is a bit teasing as she stops walking, lightly poking Keiko's tummy with her index finger.
"Is there somebody hungry?"
Ruby looks at Keiko, her lips form a mischievous, yet gentle grin.
"No- Not much. I probably have food at home, I can wait."
Ruby gently shakes her head, not looking away. They are standing in the middle of the sidewalk, pedestrians shooting annoyed glances in their direction as they have to maneuver around the two of them.
"Nuh uh. Come on, let's go eat something. We can't do anything else anyways, just see it as a reward since you did great today. And if you don't want to do that, just pay it forward with your first salary."
Keiko looks left and right before looking back at Ruby, finally hesitantly agreeing as she continues to trail along behind Ruby.
They walk into the first ramen spot they see. It is semi-crowded, but they can still find a desk to sit down at. Shortly after sitting down, a waiter walks up to them and takes their orders. This time, Keiko, much to the joy of Ruby, instantly orders the same thing she did.
"Ruby?"
Keiko starts to speak, her tone is so quiet that she's barely louder than the ambient sounds of the restaurant.
"Why are you so kind to me?"
Ruby tilts her head slightly to the left, seemingly confused by Keiko's question.
"I honestly think I'm doing the bare minimum. I was the one who asked to spend time with you, so paying for the food is not that special."
Keiko softly shakes her head.
"No, I don't think anybody was ever this kind to me… But that's not what I meant, Mem-Ch-… I mean, Mem and the boss are kind too, but your kindness feels different. You are treating me like I'm an old friend of yours, even though we just met…"
Ruby stays silent for a long moment, caught off guard by the sudden depth behind Keiko's question.
She's right. Why am I doing this?
I never paid for someone else's food before.
And now I'm doing it for the second time today already.
No, I have never been in such a situation before.
She actually needs this food. I don't know her background, but look at her.
She is so thin that's the reason.
"I just don't want you to watch while I eat; you're interpreting too much into this. Also, I have an income and no expenses, my money would just be piling up anyways."
Keiko's expression shifts; she looks slightly more serious now.
"Can I ask you something? I feel like I know the real reason behind it, something maybe you're not even aware of."
Ruby stays silent, her expression turning curious as she nods.
"Alright… Could it be that you're seeing a replacement for anybody in me? I mean I don't really know you, and I'm not a psychiatrist… Please don't get mad at me for assuming."
Keiko makes a small break between her sentences.
"I assume it's Miss Arima, but I can't be certain… Anyways, what I want to say is, please don't have too high expectations of me."
While saying the last part of her sentence, she bowed down a bit. Ruby stays silent for a moment before replying.
"No, don't worry, I am not projecting Kana onto you… But Kana is great too, would you maybe want to meet her someday? I think the two of you could become friends."
It is definitely not Kana, I mean, I still talk to her daily.
But she is probably right… Could it be that I am still longing for Ai?
Mom died one and a half decades ago, I thought I was over it…
But Aqua clearly isn't over it either, maybe this is really it after all…
But I shouldn't treat Keiko differently because of this.
Keiko raises her head again, speaking up, which draws Ruby back into reality.
"I would love to."
Their conversation goes on, and their food eventually arrives five minutes later. They dig in and finish their bowls in a record time, leaving the warm light of the store behind as they step back into the by neon signs flooded streets.
They have entered a shopping district by now. Around them are various stores. Some sell anime merchandise, and others sell electronics. Ruby initially wanted to avoid the stores since they couldn't buy anything anyways, but her mood shifted.
They started strolling through the streets, looking into showcases, sometimes even entering the stores to look around, before eventually leaving again, every time without actually buying anything.
Eventually, Ruby's attention is caught by a store; it looks to her like the store is calling out for her specifically, sparkling extra bright. She walks up to the glass display, almost pressing her face against it. Inside the store are various plushies. Some are anime themed, some are cute animals, while others are food with faces.
Her gaze eventually lands on a bunny plush, it's about 40 centimeters tall, and holding a carrot while smiling at Ruby with a typical kawaii expression. Ruby is just about to enter the store when she remembers that she's with Keiko, pulling her hand away from the handle.
"You can buy it if you want it. I don't mind."
Ruby puts her hand back into her pocket and takes a few steps back.
"No chance. I don't really need it anyways… Let's go shopping together someday, then I'll buy the bunny."
Ruby starts walking again, and Keiko catches up to her a moment later. Suddenly, a man who was also watching through the window of the store pushes past them; their shoulders touch, but by the time Ruby can turn around, he has already entered the store.
"What a jerk."
Ruby shakes her head before turning back around, not wanting to cause a scene, instead continuing to walk.
The rest of the evening had seemingly gone by in just a second. It is already 9:00 pm when Ruby looks at her phone. Ruby yawns, sitting next to Keiko on a bench, both waiting for their respective trains.
The train station is bright, light seemingly coming from everywhere, the shadows thrown by the salarymen rushing to catch their train barely have any room to breathe. Ruby feels hot; spring seems to come early this year.
"Today was super fun. But make sure you're punctual tomorrow. I think Miyako didn't mean what she said, but… Just be on time. Alright?"
Ruby leans forward ever so slightly to be able to look into Keiko's eyes, who is just looking straight ahead.
"Oh, what? Yeah, I will totally be on time, this time was just a minor slip-up, sorry again."
Ruby leans back again, stretching her arms in the air.
"Don't worry about it. Miyaemon only acts hard; she is a total cutie once you know her."
Keiko looks to the right, her expression confused.
"Miyaemon?"
Ruby doesn't look at her while replying.
"Yeah. I came up with that name myself; you should probably not use it for the time being, though."
…
Keiko hesitantly pulls her phone out just 3 minutes before her train is expected to arrive, holding it out to Ruby.
"Uhm, could I maybe get your number? You know, now that we are in a group."
Ruby takes the phone and starts to type.
"Are you sure that I can trust you? Maybe you're just a crazy fan after all…"
Keiko's face turns red as she starts to stutter and look away.
"I'm just joking. Here you go, I will also send you Mem's number later. I'm sure she'll be cool with it."
She holds Keiko's phone right in front of her face, slightly waving it left and right before Keiko grabs it out of her hand and puts it away into her pocket.
Her train enters the station right on cue, making her stand up and walk towards it. After a few steps, she stops and turns around, giving Ruby, who also stood up, a quick hug before disappearing into the crowd.
Ruby is left alone at the station as the train departs. As she sits back down, she is struck by a sudden, weird feeling. She looks around, but everywhere she looks, she just sees people minding their own business. After looking around for a minute, the feeling begins to subside again.
10 minutes later, her train arrives and she gets in. The weird feeling isn't entirely gone, but she tries to ignore it during the train ride. The ride is quiet; there are only a few people in her wagon, of whom none seems to take any interest in her whatsoever.
She gets off 4 stations later at the same quiet stop, Aqua and Akane stopped at 2 weeks prior. Her walk home is uneventful; she doesn't meet a single soul on the street, and every window is either completely dark or the sight into it is obscured by curtains.
She enters her home. Every light is turned off, not like she had expected anything else. Miyako got lots of stuff on her list, especially now that the 15-year-lie movie is scheduled to release soon, and Aqua doesn't really leave his room anymore either.
She goes up the stairs, deliberately leaving the lights off; she knows this house well enough to avoid obstacles even when it's pitch black around her.
When she reaches for her door handle, she can't find it for some reason, so she pulls her phone out and reluctantly turns the flashlight on. Her door is wide open.
Weird, I thought I closed my door when I left.
Did Aqua enter my room and forget to close the door?
Such a dummy, I intentionally left the radiator on, but now my room is cold anyways.
I mean, closing a door is really not that hard. What did he even want to begin with?
She steps inside and turns her light on, her window momentarily acting as a mirror before she pulls the curtains together. Only then does she notice the box placed on her bed. She freezes for a moment, not able to think of any reason why this would be here.
Is Aqua trying to bribe me with a gift?
Maybe he really felt bad for what he did.
But why can't he just apologize like a normal person then?
Say that you won't do it again, and I would maybe even give you another chance.
But like this? Not even handing it to me in person?
What did he get me anyways…
She picks the box up. The box itself is red, and a pink ribbon is placed on top of it. Out of it, she pulls the exact bunny she was eyeing earlier, a small note attached to the foot.
"I hope you like my gift for you, it's for being the best idol of all time. I love you."
The best idol of all time?
I love you?
Ruby's heart starts racing as she reads the message over and over again. Eventually, the note glides out of her hand, landing on the other side, revealing a fan art.
Nothing out of the ordinary, Ruby has gotten countless fan-arts before. The only difference is that none of them were of her lying on her bed, drawn from the point of view of her window.