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An agonizing silence filled the room.
Anzu decided to stay silent as she watched Akehoshi’s eyes dart from his hands, to her, to the gifts on her bedside. It looked like he was having a bit of trouble knowing where to start, and she wasn’t doing much better at closing the gap that had mysteriously formed between them.
“So… the nemophila flowers you got…” Akehoshi eyed the blue and white flowers sitting prettily on Anzu’s bedside. “You got those from someone who wanted to be your friend, right?”
Anzu’s eyes widened in mild surprise before she gave an affirmative nod. The baby blue eyes were given to her as one of the first gifts since she entered the hospital.
“Mm… is there a reason they felt like those were the best to express their feelings?”
The girl had explained that like many of the other Producers who had recently enrolled in Yumenosaki, she was jealous of Anzu, a Producer who had made great leaps despite her humble name. But that after Anzu was hospitalized, the girl had come to regret the hostility and jealousy she had felt toward her. The flowers were meant to be a sort of olive branch, and a promise to do better with the hope for friendship.
Akehoshi continued to stare at the flowers. “I… think it’s a little complicated for me, but I sorta got’cha.”
Anzu was impressed Akehoshi figured out the meaning of the flowers, especially after she insisted on keeping it a secret.
“Ah, yeah…” He chuckled humorlessly. “Being honest here; not knowin’ you sent you those flowers bothered the hell out of me.”
Oh.
“I can see that worried expression on your face. No need to worry about me.”
Anzu’s frown only deepened.
Akehoshi covered half his face with a hand. “I’ve been acting so stupid, yanno~?”
She was still confused.
Akehoshi laughed, genuine this time. “Look at me, making you worry like this.” He paused for a few seconds, looking again at the nemophila flowers. “Y’know I love you, right, Anzu?”
Anzu smacked Akehoshi’s arm, encouraging him to laugh harder.
“You know I didn’t mean it like that,” Akehoshi chided playfully. “I love everyone in Trickstar, after all ♪”
Speaking of Trickstar…
“Oh yeah, it’s been a while since you’ve been with everyone, right? Well…” Akehoshi flicked up his index finger and held its position. “Sally has been real busy with his new job as Student Council President. Even though he’s in charge, I heard Himemin’s been giving him a tough time. He added his middle finger. “Hokke’s still working with Hibiking-senpai in ‘Dramatica’, and he even got in a leading role with Tomoya-kun. We should go see the play when you get out of here ♪”
Anzu nodded, already thinking about how to spend the breaks Tenshouin forced her to take.
“Then it’s a date— Ow! I get it, you don’t have to keep doing that!” Akehoshi raised his arms in false surrender. “Oh! And I almost forgot to mention: Ukki is playtesting a game that’s being made!”
She presumed that the game was from Sora, as the young magician mentioned it to her in passing recently.
“Yup! We should play that with all of Trickstar there. Ukki said it was a multiplayer game for up to five people so that a whole unit could play together!” Akehoshi sneakily snatched a bag of potato chips out of the pile of gifts everyone left for Anzu. Forcefully opening the bag, the super idol caught a chip between his index and middle finger and put it in his mouth. “Yow dwon’t mine if I eath his, righ?” he asked as he chewed.
Anzu rolled her eyes fondly and nodded.
“Mm… wow, these are so good! Here, you should take a couple too!” Akehoshi handed a chip over to her, smiling brightly with salty crumbs on his parted lips. “Y’know, Shinonon is the one who figured out the meaning of the nemophila flowers, and it was after we played a word game! We should play it too~! Let me explain the rules to you…”
“Augh! How did you win!? I spent so long studying flower meanings with Shinonon and Tetora~” Akehoshi pouted in defeat and popped another chip in his mouth.
Anzu couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her.
“…And then Bloody Mary jumped on top of Daikichi and Leon, and they made a pyramid! Gami-san looked so proud of Leon, but Junjun looked like he was gonna faint…”
“…Even though Natsume stopped Itsuki-senpai from bullying Blue-senpai, he started bullying Blue-senpai too, until…”
“…Rasshi showed her makeover of Occhan to Gami-san and Zaki-san, and the two of them looked like they were gonna explode! Then Occhan started worrying if they had fevers…”
“…Kazehaya-senpai and HiMERU-senpai sometimes give each other weird looks when they think the other isn’t looking. Anzu, do you think…”
“…Shinobun taught Yuppii how to run up the wall like a ninja, and so Yuppii started to…”
“…When Chi-chan-senpai jumps into Kiryu-senpai’s arms, he gets twirled around so easily, even though Chi-chan-senpai is pretty muscular… How do you think Kiryu-senpai handles…”
“…Sena-senpai was complaining to me about having to hang out with Hakaze-senpai and Chi-chan-senpai, but I could tell he was really excited ♪ He even bought them matching…”
“…Hasumin-senpai once tried using a leash to keep Tsukinaga-senpai under control, but when Gami-san was asked if it was some type of BDSM thing, Hasumin-senpai got really flustered. Haha, and then Tsukinaga-senpai asked…”
“…Yellow Kid and Ukki actually gave me a sneak peak of the game they were working on~! Apparently…”
“…Himemin and Shinonon had a movie night together, and somehow, I didn’t get invited!? Hehe, just kidding, I’m taking Shinonon out to a movie next week! I know a horror movie wouldn’t scare him enough for him to hold onto me, but I think if I…”
“…Cathy told me that he and Zaki-san had the Duel because they were fighting over a painting! Can you believe it!? And the day after that, they somehow found something else to fight about. I really wished I coulda seen it~ To settle it, they…”
“…And then Eichi-senpai flipped Tetora on his back! Hippii got so scared that he jumped on top of Tetora, and then when Hippii realized he was straddling him, it got so awkward~♪” Akehoshi chuckled. “You won’t believe it, but…”
Akehoshi downed a second glass of water and let out a huge sigh as he placed the glass next to him. “Wow, how long were we talking? I think the light outside the window changed color…”
The clock on Anzu’s bedside currently read “7:07,” and it read “11:49” when Akehoshi came in to visit her.
“Ah, I guess so. Time really flies when we’re having fun, yanno~?”
Anzu nodded, raising a hand to her face to feel the smile that seemingly implanted itself there, refusing to budge or wear away. Visiting hours were almost over too, so it was probably time for him to go.
Akehoshi shook his head. “Not yet. I have one more thing to tell you.” The idol’s face turned worried, and he rose from the cushioned wooden chair, promptly seating himself on the producer’s bed. “I won’t let it happen again. We won’t drift apart again. Not if I can help it. We’ll keep in touch, and we’ll keep having talks like this as many times as we can. And if somehow, we lose each other, we’ll always find a way back to each other.”
Anzu stared back at Akehoshi for a moment in shock before giving him a determined smile. A declaration, a show of determination, turned into an everlasting promise.
Akehoshi returned her smile. “Of course. You, me, and the rest of Trickstar!” He stood up and walked toward the door, “I’ll see you tomorrow ♪”
The prized producer watched as Akehoshi waved to her before scampering down the hall, and she looked to the nemophila flowers sitting next to her. Anzu reached out and rested one of the indigo petals in her palm as the sunset illuminated its beauty. She smiled. It looked like Akehoshi “forgave” her too.