"Alright. I’ll take your word for it Mina-chan" Who: Hino Rei and Aino Minako What: Forced friendship! Where: A park somewhere and then pizzeria! Status: Complete! Rating: PG13 for gays and Minako being on crack.
Rei sighed and set everything down. Today was her day off and she’d promised that more than mildly insane woman that she’d allow her to take her one day for ‘fun and friendship’ or whatever. In doing so, she decided to wear the comfiest pair of jeans she had and an off the shoulder t-shirt over a wife-beater. Sneakers and a hat and she was out the door to meet her at the park like she had offered.
Once at the park she sat quietly on one of the swings, glad it was still school hours so there weren’t any kids there to ask her to move. She looked down as she kicked the dirt beneath her feet around. Why did this woman insist on getting her to have fun or friends, not like friends were a life requirement. She didn’t need them. What she needed was success to prove to her deadbeat of a father that she could do things the right way without cheating. That she was better than he was.
Not that Minako was really insane, honest! She was just... passionate about the things she believed in, and friendship was one of those very big deals. You didn’t badmouth friendship in front of her, and she didn’t pout you into submission - it’d always seemed like a fair deal to her!
She may well have been humming an obnoxiously catchy song as she wandered up to where she’d agreed to meet Rei. The perks of being a radio DJ~. “Hiiiiino-san!”
It began!
And she’s already ready to stab her ears in. Last thing she needs is a song stuck in her head and she knows the one she’s humming. Rei turned to face her and sighed. “Aino-san.” Bowed her head and hopped up to standing, flicking the top of her hat up so she got a better look of her. She’d only talked to the crazy one over the internet of course.
“Took you long enough, you always late?” She chortled out, trying to suppress the urge to make a semi pervy joke out of the last three words.
If this had been any other day, Minako would’ve pouted. A lot. But today was a day that LoveLove was going to triumph, so she soldiered on. “I’m not that late! It’s all Artemis’ fault! He gets so needy sometimes, and keeps headbutting my ankles, and I just can’t say no to that cat...”
He was a very pretty kitty. That was her excuse and she was sticking to it.
“You’re a cat owner?” Groaned and reached into her pocket to look for the allergy pills to take beforehand. Just in case the fur agitates anything. Rei looked around for somewhere to grab something to drink, hoping it was somewhere cheap because dammit her funds are low. “I hope you realise we won’t be able to do much that requires me to actually spend any money, if you were thinking of it at all.” Looked up to her. You can tell a lot about a person by what they wear.
This time, Minako did pout. Only a little, though. “He’s a fancy breed. Hypoallergenic! That way, I can take him pretty much anywhere with me...” Him being a fancy breed was probably why he had that weird Moon-shaped mark on his head, really. Even though neither of his parents had anything close to it.
She perked up a bit at the change in topic. Minako to the rescue! “Oh, that’s fine! I was going to pay for things for both of us anyway, because... well, it was my idea, right?”
“I have really bad allergies to them, you sure he’s hypoallergenic?” Tipped her head and set the pill bottle back into her small hand bag. “I’ll pay back whatever I can... Whenever it is that I actually can.” Turned to walking towards the main street, mostly just because she guess that’s the direction Minako will take them.
While walking one guy decided to whistle at her appreciatively, and not in the extremely sexist fashion. Just a low whistle and a tip of his head. She sneered, flipped him off, then pushed her hat further down on her head.
“I promise he is. He’s a good little kitty!” And right now, he was probably asleep on some expensive piece of equipment. Maybe he wasn’t good all the time. “And don’t worry! You don’t have to pay anything back!”
Sure, it’d be nice, but Minako was doing this out of the goodness of her own heart. She made a face when Rei flipped that poor guy off. “No wonder you don’t have much luck in that department... he was trying to be nice!”
“I don’t need men.” Shoved her hands into her pockets and continued walking, choosing to ignore the sudden guilt her saying that put onto her shoulders, or the shame she felt from it being implied it was her fault. It was, everything was. And if she thought hard enough, her father’s cheating in money and life could be her fault to.
Rei sucked in a heavy breath and kept her head down.
“Men are kinda overrated,” Minako would admit that much, which was probably more than a little controversial for someone like her to say. Whatever would her listeners think?! “Still... does prove that you need friends. Kind of.”
“Very overrated.” Rei chuckled out, frantically trying to get a hold of the urges in the back of her head. This was not the time to end up making a damn awkward fool of yourself. Now, she wasn’t a very emotional person on the outside. She kept herself collected and closed off of any emotion that was stubborn determination. This meant all other came out as annoyance or rage because she didn’t care to or know how to display them.
In a split second decision she turned around and in just as short a time planted her lips to Minako’s. Another split second and she was jumped six feet away and flaming red.
There was only one word for what Minako’s immediate reaction was. Flail. Massive flail at that. After a few moments of stunned silence, she bounced right back into action. You couldn’t let that keep you down!
“You could’ve just asked, Hino-san~”
“I... uh. And.. Uh.. Gomen” Sucked in her breath quickly and bowed. “Hijo ni gomen’nasai...” Kept her head down and slowly back up further away from her until her heel met the curb and she was quickly toppling back and into a cart with oranges and apples.
Even though it was kind of inappropriate, Minako couldn’t help but laugh, quickly moving to help her back to her feet (and away from the cart. Carts are dangerous, kids!). “It’s okay! Unexpected, but definitely okay!”
And she’s not going to look at her at all, because hey... Can’t just kiss someone after being a bit of a bitch to them and look them square in the face as if nothing happened. Once slightly calmed down she’s gone quiet, shuffling her feet behind and in front of her ankles while keeping her hands inside her pocket. “I... I can explain.”
She really couldn’t, but she had to say something even if it was a bold faced lie.
Was there really any need to explain? As far as Minako cared, random kissing happened sometimes. She didn’t just think that because of her copious collection of hentai manga, though! “No need. Just warn me next time.”
That was accompanied by her sticking her tongue out. Immature? Aino Minako? You must be joking!
“Next time?!” Held her mouth open wide and pulled her hands up as if to block the words from reaching her. “Youactasiftherewillbeanexttime!” Her turn to flail and attempt to get herself to a semi calm state. “Don’t flatter yourself!” Glared at her and stormed a few feet away before turned and tugging at her hair. “Gomen! Gomen! Gomen!”
Wow. And Minako thought she flailed like a pro. “I was teasing. It’s what I do~.”
Rei sucked in her breath and looked up at her. “I... Emotions aren’t what I do and you seem to make me have all of them at once and I really don’t like it so I keep getting angry.” Rubbed the back of her neck. She hadn’t had a crush since gradeschool. “Maybe I should just go home before I do anything else stupid or say anything... Because I don’t want you to be made to feel too awkward and I’d like to leave us just... The way we were.” Turned on her heels and went to head the direction of home.
Nope. Not happening. Not now, not ever. Minako reached out and grabbed her hand, trying to keep her from running. “I think I’ve heard more awkward things than this. I run that dating hotline, remember?”
She heard some of the most awkward (and also awful) things in the world running that thing.
“Yeah.. But it’s not like you’d want someone like me.” Tried to jerk her hand away. “We barely know each other and already my impression is that I can’t do anything right, don’t work well with emotions, and all around am not the kind of person people like to be around.” Let her hand go limp. “I’m usually alone, it’s how it’s always been, and how I like it.”
You never knew, really! Minako slowly let go of her hand, clearly trying to think things through. “Well... how do you know you like being alone best if you’ve only ever been alone?” It was a legitimate question! “I bet there are lots of people who’d want to be with you~.”
And she was definitely denying that she was one of those. Because that would be weird!
“Because I don’t like change....” She sighed and turned to look up at the sky. “I dated someone... Once. It was a long time ago. We were together for three years and it ended up a lie. We did everything together, or so I thought. Three of the happiest years of my life... Until I found out that I wasn’t the only one. I was the lowest of four choices. And in the end... The other three we kept and I was threatened with harm if I told any of them.” Kept her face from looking anywhere near Minako.
“Love hurts too much, friendships get ruined. In the end you only have yourself to thank or blame. And I want to be the kind to thank my own willpower and strength.” Sucked in her breath and turned to face her. “It’s not a matter of people wanting me. It’s me not wanting them because I’ll never be able to trust.”
Why would anyone do something like that? It was people like that who made Minako’s job harder - people who used others and then threw them aside for whatever stupid reason they could come up with. “One bad experience shouldn’t make you give up on everything... maybe you just need a chance to rebuild your ability to trust?”
She’d seen the other conversations on that post she’d made. It looked like she had some people who seemed like friends, so...
They seemed like friends, but she wouldn’t let them in. She sighed and looked up at her again with a very serious face. “You want to help so much. Be that chance. Whether it ends in nothing, or starts something. You want to help, be my chance.” Not the nicest way to ask someone out, and definitely the weirdest and most awkward conversation to bring it in. But it’s all she had.
Wait. Waaaait. What. It took Minako a moment to realise quite what she meant... and when she did, she turned several interesting shades of red. “I... well...” Well, this was awkward. How could the ~Goddess of LoveLove~ admit that she didn’t actually have experience in this sort of thing? “...I guess? If it’ll make you stop being all grouchy.”
A grouchy Rei-chan was a boring Rei-chan, she decided. There was something fun inside her somewhere, dammit!
Rei’s eyes went wide and she nervously stood up. “Four dates, and if nothing happens we can... Try and be...” Sucked in air and swallowed hard, moving to poking her fingers together. “Try and be friends...” Bit her lip stared at the ground. She had no idea where to go from here now. “Just please don’t hurt me...” Showing weakness like this is actually a sign of trust she doesn’t realise she’s showing.
As if Minako could ever hurt anyone. “It’s all going to be okay. Promise!” She flashed a V-sign, grinning like a slightly-unhinged maniac. “I’m not the type of person who hurts others... unless they hurt someone I care for first.”
Serious Minako was serious.
For the first time since, Rei laughed out loud. An almost belly laugh that showed true joy. “Alright. I’ll take your word for it Mina-chan.” Sucked in her breath and hoped that wasn’t jumping things. Somewhere in the very back of her mind a sense of deja vu sparked and she had to shake her head clear of the awkward sensation.
Minako pretty much tacklehugged her, throwing care to the wind for now. “You can always believe in the Goddess of LoveLove, Rei-chan~.”
Toppled over and onto the grassier part of the park. Which was good because when she focused she was on top of Minako with her all but pinned down. She couldn’t even bring herself to move, simply looking down at the woman below her and blushed softly. “Mina-chan... uh...”
Minako, once more, turned several interesting shades of red and shot right up. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”
In their position it was easy to actually pin her again, and this time planting her lips gently against Minako’s again. Little known fact, when she’s with someone. Kissing is definitely a must, so Minako better be ready for plenty of it. She let hands relax and tilted her head to kiss easier. She may be losing herself in it, if only for the fact it had been so long and it’s nice...
Um. Okay? Minako could kind of deal with this... she tried to respond to the kiss as best she could, completely uncertain of where to put her hands. Okay, how did people in relationships actually do this? It was... weird.
Nice weird, though.
Rei broke the kiss after a few short seconds only to push her face against her shoulder and began to sob. She doesn’t know where to go from this, what to do or where to begin. All she knows is she scared and doesn’t want it to end up being her fault at all. She blames herself for the person cheating, so what if it becomes this time around too.
Minako didn’t know quite what to do. Instinct, thankfully, took hold, and she gently wrapped her arms around the other woman. “Hey... it’s okay, you know. Nothing bad’s going to happen or anything!”
And if anything bad tried to happen, Minako would beat it with a stick until it relented. That was the way of the Goddess of LoveLove, dammit.
“Please don’t hurt me... I don’t think I could handle it again.” And despite having a faint idea of her reaction, she sighed and spoke again. “I was going to try and end things after today...” Sucked in her breath and waited for the worst.
...But she’d seemed so strong and self-assured earlier. That really didn’t make sense to Minako. “But Rei-chan... you definitely have friends here. They’d miss you.” And she wasn’t going to squee about how handsome those two guys were. That’d be improper. “You’d be giving up on a good life... and that’s just not right!”
“It’s not that good a life. I’m failing at it.” Pushed herself up. “I don’t have a good business. My education is subpar at best sometimes. I don’t have a house, or family with kids, I don’t have a car of my own... I’m not a success at anything I have or do.” She doesn’t even realise she has her priorities so very wrong.
Minako pouted. Epically. “That’s not what makes your life good or not, you know! Education and family and houses... it’s all second to you. If you’re happy, your life is good! If you’re not, you just need to work on it, and it’ll all turn out fine!”
Rei looked up and her and wiped her eyes. “I’ve got a lot to learn from you, Mina-chan.” Stood up and reached a hand down for Minako to take hold of it to assist her to standing herself. “I can be rather stubborn, you sure you’re up for the task of this?”
Not that Minako really needed the hand up, but she took it all the same. It looked better that way. “It’ll be my hardest job yet... but I know I can do it!”
There was a lot to be said for the power of believing in yourself, and nobody in the world believed in themselves more than Aino Minako.
“You know. I think you’d make the best shoujo manga heroine ever!” A funny and joking side? Rei had one, dammit! It just took getting past the boily lava type outer shell, and three layers of hot ember to get to it! “I think you’d look best in a mini skirt and bows!” If only she knew...
Minako couldn’t help but laugh, possibly the girliest giggle ever. Flirting! “Ooh, would I get to punish people in the name of something really weird? Like... like... I punish you in the name of that tree?”
She’d even done a pose whilst saying it. Somebody might’ve read a few too many shoujo manga over the years.
Squinched her nose up and laughed. “Nah. I like ‘I’ll punish you in the name of love and justice!’ or something equally cheesy.” The pose made her smile as she slipped off her hat and plopped it onto Minako’s head. “And you’d have a catch phrase and a henshin sequence and everything. Lots of hearts and sparkles! And it would take too long and fill out gaps in episodes if it were turned into an anime!”
“Ooh, I’ve got one!” Minako cleared her throat, stood dramatically, and posed. “Receive love’s divine punishment~!”
That came out sounding a lot more ridiculous than she’d thought, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “And there’d be really long attack sequences too! With spinning and glitter!”
“And don’t forget the youma screaming out a phrase when it’s destroyed!” Rei chortled out “And the item that lets you transform looks a bit too phallic for a kids show!” Took a gentle hold of her hand. “So. What does my shoujo fighter of love and all things pretty have planned for today?”
Why did they always look so phallic, anyway? Minako really had to wonder... “I... didn’t really plan too far ahead, to be honest,” she admitted, a little sheepishly. “Something nice, though! Just between the two of us!”
“I like arcades...” Offered that simple a suggestion. “But I’m rather hungry...” She held a hand up when her phone rang, and as she spoke she feels weirder. “Uh... sure. Let the new girl try her new routine. No... I haven’t seen it. But. What else do I have to lose. And if she’s good let her continue for tomorrow. And... Put all drinks up three dollars but cut the entrance down by two.” The conversation went on a little while longer before hanging up the phone and gave a heavy sigh. “Here’s hoping something new works.”
It’d better work. Minako didn’t like seeing anyone seem sad. “We could go get something to eat, then hit the arcades? I’ll warn you, I’m good!”
You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but Minako had blitzed half the arcades in the area already. That was why a lot of the machines had ‘AI’ as their top-ranked player.
“I’m not great, I just think they’re a lot of fun!” Smiled and pushed her phone back into her pocket. “But food sounds great. I’d like pizza!” Gently squeezed her hand and blushed before pulling her hand away. She doesn’t want to seem clingy or anything like that.
Minako took her hand right back, gently entwining their fingers. “Alright! Totally fine by me~.” And it was probably the least Japanese thing ever, so it made the date-thing seem a lot less stereotypical, which was always nice.
What, couldn’t a girl like Minako have some standards? It happened!
The holding to her hand made her blush and gently squeeze. This was nice in so many ways, and she had a strong feeling that, that boy racer was going to have a few things to say about this. “I know a really nice, family run pizza place not too much further from here. We could do that, Mina-chan. Instead of larger chains...” Tried to keep the same pace as the excitable woman. Her head whirling with thoughts that this was a dream, and fears that it was all a mistake.
That boy racer was probably going to tease her relentlessly. That was besides the point, though, considering Minako was happily oblivious to most of said racer’s existence. “Ooh... I like the sounds of that! The smaller ones always tend to do things the bigger ones don’t...”
Aino Minako: master of accidental innuendo.
“But sometimes size matters. Like, I like a lot of pizza! Small pizzas are for wusses.” Once they were almost there she pulled the other close. She knew more about how relationships worked. After three years you’d know after all. She looked at her and leaned over to kiss her temple while they waited for the light to change to tell them to cross the street.
Pfft. Okay, Minako liked this side of Rei. A whole lot. “And people say I make terrible innuendoes!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Pushed her lips together in a fail attempt at a poker face. It failed because she stopped part way through to just bust out into laughter. “Oh I am a terrible person!”
A terrible person she might be, but she was also terribly awesome. Minako pretty much dissolved into giggles, having to fight to be able to speak even semi-coherently. “Of course not, Rei-chan! Size can refer to lots of things...”
Mostly dirty things. Or maybe that was just Minako’s mind.
Rei giggled more and looked to her. “So. Since we’re on the topic. Are you into long slices, deep dish, or a mixture of the two?” More innuendos? Why the fuck not! She took a tighter hold to her hand and led her across the street well in the allotted time.
That was one of the worst innuendos Minako had ever heard, which really, really said something. “I don’t know if I know you well enough to tell you yet~” She stuck her tongue out at her, bouncing slightly on her heels. “What about you, hm?”
And that’s where the mood halted. “I... Don’t have much experience personally to answer that.” Rubbed the back of her neck. It’s not like she hadn’t had sex, she just never had enough to develop distinct preferences yet. Seeing her tongue stuck out at her had been met with a slight blush, so that should have told her something.
Not that something like that was a bad thing! Minako might’ve been a bit too amused by the blush, but chose not to comment. No need to make her even more awkwardly embarrassed. “Nothing wrong with that! Whilst it’s a special thing, it’s best when you’re with someone you love and care about... that’s how you learn best!”
Or so she’d heard.
“I don’t know much about love...” Waved it off in her head as soon as she said it and focused on just getting into the location for food! She mock bowed and opened the door for her. “After you!” Kept her head down but eyes up to her. This was weird and not what she expected the day to be like at all.
Weird wasn’t a bad thing, was it? It’d been nice so far... “Does this mean you want to wear the pants in this relationship?” Minako wasn’t going to stop teasing any time soon. It was too much fun! Especially when it made Rei turn funny colours...
And as if on cue she turned a deep shade of crimson and tried to cough things off as she shut the door behind her. Once sat down and handed a menu she accidently brushed her foot up Minako’s shin. “S-sorry!”
Accidental or not, she really didn’t mind! It was actually kind of nice... and Minako would very much deny that she was blushing at all. It was just warm in here! That’s all! “Don’t worry about it! It happens, right?”
“Y-yeah... Totally happens.” She ordered her drink and looked on at to the menu. “So... What am I allowed to get. Price wise?” She had to ask, not wanting to be a burden or mooching of her too much.
Minako shrugged. “Anything you want? I don’t make that much, but... I’m pretty comfortably off. So, get whatever!”
It was only fair, right? She’d dragged her out, so she’d make it awesome!