Chapter Text
The whispers behind my back.
If only I can drown it out.
But the only way to do that is to…
No.
I’m not gonna do that.
These voices will go away.
One day…
Just need to endure it for a little bit longer…
“It’s getting pretty long.”
The figure played with the pink locks of their hair in front of the bedroom mirror. A grin was slowly growing on their face. What kind of fun hairstyles can they try with this type of hair length? The endless amount of possibilities got them bubbling with excitement. They should ask their sister about it tomorrow.
The figure hummed excitedly and turned around to get ready for bed.
But then, something caught their eye by the closet door. A junior highschool student uniform. The grin they had suddenly dropped.
They stood up and closed it until it heard a clunk of the wood. They then trudged to the bed and sighed as they threw themselves on it.
Maybe tomorrow shouldn’t come after all.
---
It should be around here… Mizuki hopped on her toes, scanning the crowd around Scramble Crossing. Her hand hovered over her eyes to cover the glare from the sun. She looked down at her phone.
13:00
They should be meeting up right now. She unlocked her phone and clicked on the Nightcord app. Scrolling through the text messages, her hand stopped where the group coordinated their outfits.
One of the members should be wearing a cream colored jacket with a blue blouse. The other would be wearing a pink blouse. And the other should be wearing a green dress.
Mizuki shut off her phone and stood on her toes again to search the area.
It was then that a brown side ponytail drifted by her vision. Mizuki looked over and saw a tall girl wearing a cream colored jacket. Could that be one of them?
Mizuki slowly began to follow the girl and she found two girls sitting by a building who were chatting. The girl in the pink blouse was chatting happily while the other girl, who had green hair and was wearing a green dress just listened in.
In the middle of the conversation, the pink blouse girl’s head perked up and her face brightened. She hopped off her seat and skipped over to them.
“Blue ribbon tied in a side ponytail and a cream white jacket,” The girl mumbled as she leaned over to them. “Are you guys, Amia and Tsuki??”
“A-ah!” The cream colored jacket girl said, “Y-yes. I’m Tsuki. And Amia…?” She turned around and nearly fell onto the pink blouse girl from shock after spotting Mizuki.
Mizuki laughed. “Ahah! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!”
Tsuki let out a breath. "How long have you been behind me…?"
“Not that long. I promise." She turned to the pink blouse girl. "Yes, I am Amia. I'm assuming you're Minorinrin?"
"Uh huh!" Minorinrin hummed as she ecstatically.
"Uhm…" The girl in the green dress appeared behind the carefree girl, gripping the pink blouse tightly. "H-hello…"
Mizuki grinned at her. "And you must be Pomelo!"
Pomelo hesitated a bit before nodding. She slowly appeared from behind Minorinrin while twiddling her fingers. "It's nice to meet you all."
Mizuki clapped happily. "Alright then! The whole gang's here! Welcome to the first offline meeting of Hobbyists on Days Off!! The chat group that's all about relaxing while discussing our hobbies!"
Mizuki huffed with pride. She had rehearsed that for who knows how long.
Pomelo blinked. "Hobbyists on Days Off?"
"Neat name, ain't it?" Mizuki grinned, "I just came up with it last week."
Pomelo looked like she wanted to protest but ultimately didn’t say anything. It was totally different to her usual quick witted online persona.
"I think it's cute!" Minorinrin exclaimed. She isn't any different from her online persona.
Tsuki fidgeted with her necklace but had a soft smile as she looked at the group.
Mizuki could feel her chest getting lighter. Yeah… she knew meeting up online was a good idea. "I know we've already been talking a bunch online, but let's go around and introduce ourselves again!" She cleared her throat dramatically. “I am Amia, the founder of this group. But during our offline meetings, you can know me as Akiyama Mizuki. I'm a first-year at Kamiyama High and I like making videos and collages as a hobby. I also like cute clothes and I binge a lot of manga and anime.”
Minorinrin’s eyes were practically sparkling. “You have such a good eye for cute clothes! All the brands that you showed me in the group chat were so cute!!”
Mizuki could feel herself blush. “Eheh… thanks.” She turned towards Pomelo. “It's your turn, Pomelo.”
The girl in question started to shrink behind Minorinrin. “Uhm… like you said… I’m Pomelo. But you can know me as Kusanagi Nene while we meet up offline. I’m also a first-year at Kamiyama High and uh I like playing video games, watching movies, and going to see musicia- and watching movies. That’s it.”
Minorinrin started to laugh. “You like watching movies so much that you mentioned it twice?”
“I uh- yeah…” Nene hung her head low.
Tsuki started to laugh as well which made Nene shrink back even more. The tall girl started to stiffen at the sight. “A-ah sorry! I was just thinking about the movie you recommended the other day. I laughed so hard watching it that it made my cheeks hurt ahah…”
Nene straightened herself. “Y-you watched it??” A small smile appeared on her face. “I’m glad you liked it…”
Minorinrin was practically floating in the air in excitement. “I’ll go next!! As you know, I’m Minorinrin but you can know me as Hanasato Minori in the real world! I’m a first year at Miyajo!”
Mizuki didn’t know if she saw it wrong or not but did Tsuki just flinch a bit?
She tapped her chin in thought. “Let’s see… my hobbies include copy idols’ dance routines and journaling. I’m also a huge fan of Kiritani Haruka from ASRUN!”
“Oh I listened to that ASRUN album you told me about. It was literally heaven in my ears!” Mizuki interjected.
Minori turned to Mizuki with a sparkling grin. “Oh thank you so much!! We can talk more about it at the diner! It was the last album before-” The girl’s cheerful aura flickered for a second. But she quickly recovered and let out a slight chuckle. “Ahah… I’m getting a bit too ahead of myself.”
Mizuki blinked. Oh right… Haruka had left ASRUN. She could still remember that Minori hadn’t messaged in the group chat for days when the news was announced. It looks like it’s still getting to her.
Tsuki coughed to break the awkward atmosphere that started to creep in. “Uhm… I guess that leaves me to introduce myself.” She looked down and began twirling her loose strands of hair. “I’m Tsuki. But during our offline meetings, you can know me as Mochizuki Honami. I’m… also a first year at Miyajo…” She cleared her throat. “My hobbies include walking my dog, Shibao and tending my garden at home. I also like apple pies.”
“Oh yeah. Speaking of which, I came across a new apple pie shop that just opened on my way here…” Nene weakly said.
Honami perked up. “Oh really!? I’ve heard about it but I totally forgot that the grand opening was today!!” She blinked and shrunk back in embarrassment from her sudden outburst. “Um… would it be alright to make a quick stop on our way from the diner…?”
Minori pumped her fists in the air. “Of course! Let’s go! We can save some room in our stomachs from the diner.”
“Tsk tsk.” Mizuki shook her head. “There is always room for dessert. Isn’t that right, Mochizuki-san?”
Honami faltered a bit after being addressed by her real life name. But she nodded with a smile. “Of course!”
Mizuki sighed in relief as she watched the three start to drift off into a nice and friendly conversation.
It looks like they’re having fun. She’s glad that she decided to arrange an offline meeting like this.
That means that she should have as much fun as possible as well. This group is precious to her after all.
Who else can she freely talk to about her hobbies without a care in the world?