A gift for you, so I can keep on hiding from you

by Amiko_Ami

Summary:

After the promise on the rooftop, Mizuki knows what her feelings towards Ena are. After hearing that Ena herself has a crush on someone, she decides to find out who that person is and set them up together. The person of Ena's affections will surprise her.

Chapter 1: The beginning

It was just another Nightcord meeting, yet this one felt different for Mizuki. It was the first one since Ena had made her promise on that rooftop. She still felt incredibly guilty for lying to Ena, but she decided to make it a point not to let it show. Noticing that everyone else besides her was already in the call, she decided not to waste any more time and join it.

“HEY HEY! It’s me!” Mizuki called out loudly. She adjusted her position in the seat while a certain short-haired girl flared up with annoyance.

“Do you really have to always be this loud, Amia?!” Ena responded equally as loudly. Hearing her voice made Mizuki feel an unfamiliar sensation in her chest, one that she decided to ignore for now.

“Oh, come on, Enanan! I’m sure you love my voice!”

“No, I don’t, actually. And I’d prefer if you didn’t just blast our eardrums the moment you join.”

“Come on, Enanan, don’t be so unfair!”

“Hi” Mafuyu, as usual, greeted her with her deadpan voice, yet was completely ignored by the visual duo.

“Don’t be unfair!? Maybe you could try not to damage our hearing, just because you can!?”

“Ohh, someone is feisty today, but alright! I, dear Amia, promise to spare your ears from my beautiful voice if you dislike it so much.”

Oh, how Mizuki enjoyed this. She was pretty sure Ena wasn’t actually mad at her, but
getting on her nerves was always fun.

“Haha, it’s good to see you, Amia.” Kanade’s quiet voice was barely audible over the sound of her and Ena bickering, but it brought them down to earth.

“Ahaha, it’s good to see you too, Yuki, K! Were you talking about something interesting before I joined? I’m always up for some juicy gossip, you know?” Mizuki tried to spark a conversation; the topic didn’t matter, she just really liked talking to everyone in Niigo. And she wanted to enjoy this for as long as she could, before it would all before time would betray her once more.

“It’s none of your business, especially for someone like you.” Ena quickly responded, too quickly in fact, which made Mizuki intrigued.

“Oh, so you were talking about something interesting! Come on, I wanna know too!” That was confirmation enough for Mizuki. Now she had to probe a little, and she would for sure find what the “mysterious” conversation that she wasn’t privy to was all about.

“No way, you’re not getting anyth-”

“Ena has a crush, she doesn’t want to tell who.” Mafuyu cut Ena off, much to the latter's dismay.

“Yuki! Why can’t you keep your mouth shut! And I do NOT have a crush!” Ena retorted furiously. She was definitely mad now.

This definitely sparked Mizuki’s curiosity.
‘Enanan has a crush, huh? Ooh, I wonder who it is! I’m not going to pass up this chance to tease her about it!’ Mizuki thought. The image of Ena falling in love with someone was deeply amusing, and Mizuki would never let an occasion like this pass.

“Enanan! So even someone with a heart as prickly as yours can fall in love. Don’t be shy! Who’s the lucky person?”

“Like I said, I DON’T HAVE A CRUSH! And even if I did, what makes you think I’ll tell YOU of all people?!”

‘Someone’s clearly agitated’

“You wound me! Why must you treat me as if I’m some sort of devil?!”

“Why are you always like this?? And I’d appreciate it if you could stop trying to get on my nerves once in a while, so that we could get to work.” She responded, clearly already fed up with this conversation.

Mizuki decided not to push any further, knowing when to stop teasing to avoid making Ena actually mad.

“Alright, alright! Someone’s grumpy today. Well, I guess we can just get to work now.”

The rest of the night was not as eventful, with everyone just focusing on their work, as they still had a lot to do before their newest song was ready. Mizuki, however, wasn’t as swamped by her work because she was still waiting for Ena to finish her sketches. Her mind was still focused on the conversation from earlier.

‘So, our dear Enanan has a crush, huh?’ -The thought of that was incredibly fascinating for Mizuki.

In truth, she herself had a crush on the artist. She wasn’t stupid, especially after their conversation on the roof; there was no mistaking it, those weren’t just feelings of friendship anymore. She admired just how determined Ena could be sometimes, and she witnessed it firsthand when the artist made the promise to wait for her forever. But most of all, she loved that despite the occasionally prickly surface, Ena cared about her friends so much, and she would never let them suffer in silence.

 

But after those feelings came the ugly truth, because Mizuki already knew. She was not meant for love; no one would actually willingly love someone like her. Someone who only knows how to keep secrets to protect herself. Mizuki knows, she’s a liar and a disgusting person, and when they would find out, that would unmake her. Because how could they stand next to a person like her when they realize who she really is?

Mizuki felt disgusted by her feelings; How dare she, after all she’s done, actually fall in love with someone like Ena? After all the lies and secrets?

And so she knew, someone like Ena would never want to actually be with someone like her. So even before the new knowledge of Ena having a crush, she was already aware of her feelings being one-sided.

Yet that gave Mizuki a new “great” idea. She wanted to express her gratitude for everything the artist has done for her, and so, she found a way.

Although, to be honest, she really has no clue who could be the person of Ena’s affection.
So, she first must begin gathering clues before she can think about actually getting Ena together with someone.

And so, the first stage of operation “Set Ena up with her crush!” begins: Information gathering!

Chapter 2: The first phase

Today was finally the day when Mizuki would begin the first stage of her plan.
She had already done some research, though it mostly consisted of reading some articles on the internet.

But! After doing some thought, Mizuki was 100% sure she had figured it all out.
The person of Ena’s affection was definitely no one other than one pink-haired idol.

Mizuki has heard Ena talk about Airi countless times already, and with the story about how the pair had become friends, she was confident that Mizuki was completely correct.
It all made sense! Childhood friends to lovers was always a popular trope in all the anime she had watched, and well, meeting in middle school should still count, right?
Besides, they fit each other way too much, and didn’t they also have a matching cat plushie?
Yeah! Those two would be perfect for each other, and they’re already best friends.

Mizuki had already witnessed herself how they could fit together. During that picnic, when Ena tried to get her to talk, and worried about her immensely, ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶c̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶.

‘That’s not important anyway’

All those gestures, all those words; Mizuki knew that Ena cared about her, as a friend and nothing more, Ena herself called her a friend. But Mizuki still felt like those words shouldn’t be wasted on her and directed to someone who deserves it more, not someone like Mizuki, who could only hide her secrets behind already immeasurable lies.

‘I guess, this whole thing will be my way of apologizing to Ena, or like atoning. She really doesn’t deserve the way I’ve been treating her, haha. But I’m sure everything will work out, and at least she will be happy.’

After deciding that she had had enough of those thoughts. Mizuki started preparing for her “interview” with one certain Airi Momoi, as she’d like to imagine. Scheduling an outing with the Idol was rather difficult, as her life was incredibly hectic, but luckily, Mizuki managed to find a day that worked for both of them. She was fortunate that they got to know each other already, during that picnic, which made reaching out to Airi so much easier. Mizuki figured that she would be much more likely to accept because of her relation to Ena. So, under the guise of “needing to talk about Ena.” Mizuki reached out to Airi, and she would use this opportunity to subtly check if Airi could possibly return Ena’s feelings. Although she felt really bad for using her issues like this, Mizuki figured that at least she could reach out to Ena’s best friend to help her. It lessened the feeling of being a burden on the artist.

 

Mizuki had left her house and was making her way to the shopping centre where she would meet Airi. Luckily for her, the weather was excellent today, with the sun shining brightly, but without it being too hot for a normal person to handle. Feeling good about her plan, she entered the building, walking towards a bench, where she could already see the idol waiting for her.

“Mizuki! Over there!” Airi called out to her.

“Hello! Ah, it’s nice to finally be able to meet like this!”

“Yeah, the life of an Idol is a busy one.”
“Haha, I don’t envy you with that. Oh, I know! How about we go to a restaurant over there? I’ve been there with Ena a few times, and the food over there is just the best!”

“Well, if you say so! I’m going to take you up on your word, then, let’s go.”

Mizuki was carefully considering how to proceed with the conversation so as not to give away the game. Just asking Airi if she had a crush on Ena wouldn’t work, so she had to be careful.

After arriving at the restaurant, finding a table, and ordering some food, Mizuki decided to get a large portion of fries, while Airi opted for a slice of cake. The Idol then addressed the elephant in the room.

“Well, we both know why we’re here, so what did you want to talk about concerning Ena?” Airi finally asked.

“Haha, not beating around the bush, huh? Well, I’d prefer if you didn’t say a word to Ena about this, but it seems that she is going through a really tough time with her art, you know? She’s going back to art classes, and she’s going through a very hard time right now.”

Mizuki felt bad for not being able to support Ena with her art. The thought that the artist did so much for her, while she couldn’t even return the favor when Ena struggled herself, made Mizuki feel awful. It made her feel even more that she wasn’t deserving of their friendship, because what friend only takes, but never gives? She figured that maybe this once, she could for once give Ena something.

“Ah, I figured it would be something like this. She was getting better recently, but I guess she got the courage to join the art classes again, huh? You probably didn’t know Ena back then, when she had horrible outbursts because of her art. After meeting your group, she has gotten better, or so I thought.”

“Well, since you are really close with each other, I thought you’d be able to help her the most, you know?” Mizuki thought that the conversation needed some more steering into a good place, because Airi’s feelings were not readable to her.

“Hmmm, how about you invite Ena here? You are best friends after all, I’m sure you’ll be able to help her the most, she does care about you, at least it seems that way from how much she has been talking to our group about you.” That wasn’t entirely true; while Ena did talk sometimes about Airi, she wouldn’t do that very often, but Mizuki figured that she had to bend the truth a little.

 

“Of course I’ll help her! She is my friend after all, but don’t sell yourself short! I could see during the picnic that Ena does care about you very much.”

Mizuki’s first thought was to deny it. How could someone as good as Ena care so much about someone like her? She shouldn’t. Mizuki doesn’t deserve her care, not when she’s lying to her like this.

“Ahaha, come on! Obviously, she considers you to be the closest. You have no idea how much she talked about you to our group, with how often she mentions you, who knows, at this point it might be Ena having a crush on you!” She said it half-jokingly, giving her plausible deniability, when asked if she really suggested Ena had a crush on Airi. While Ena in reality never talked about Airi this much, Mizuki figured she had to bend the truth a little, and the important thing was seeing Airi’s reaction.

And just as Mizuki expected, Airi’s face reddened a little, she was clearly somewhat embarrassed by the accusation.

“Bwah! What are you suggesting??? Anyway! I’ll help her as much as I need. I hate seeing Ena struggling like this, and I would be a pretty bad friend if I ignored her suffering like this. She doesn’t deserve to go through any of this. Thank you for letting me know, Mizuki, I really appreciate it.”

This was certainly enough for Mizuki; she was completely confident that Airi was very likely to return Ena’s feelings. And also, she finally did something to repay Ena’s kindness, even if she’s not able to help her directly, at least Airi should be able to. Mizuki was clearly satisfied with everything going the way she wanted. The next part of her plan includes setting up both of them on a date, although she figured she should wait before that, at least until Airi can help Ena.

“Yeah! I don’t like seeing her struggle so much as well.”

After that, the conversation shifted into more mundane topics, such as fashion discussion, complaining about schoolwork, and what foods both of them would like. Mizuki appreciated being able to just talk to someone who didn’t ridicule her for being who she is.

‘Airi’s a really good person, she cares about Ena so much. She’s way better of a friend than I could ever be. I hope they will be happy together.’

After enough time, the two girls parted ways. Mizuki was already thinking up ideas for the next phase of her plan. Though she had a lot of time until she could use them, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little fast with this, right?

When she got home, she decided to spend the rest of her day just lazing around. Mizuki was pretty tired from her outing with Airi, so she figured she could shut her eyes for a little bit.

When she opened her eyes again, she reached out for the phone to check the time.

‘Oh crap! It’s almost time for the Nightcord call!’

Mizuki pretty quickly turned on her computer and got herself ready to join to call. Just as she was about to message everyone, she thought to herself.

‘Hehe, You’ll be thankful soon, Ena, I’ll repay you for all the care you’ve shown me.’

Feeling proud of herself was a rare sight for Mizuki, but this time, she did feel so.
Now, the only thing left was the think about the next phase of the plan, when she would actually set up Airi and Ena together.

Seeing that everyone was already there, Mizuki joined the call. The Nightcord meeting ended up being rather productive. After they were all done, Mizuki lay down in her bed and drifted away to sleep.

Her dreams were filled with a face of a certain brown haired artist.

Notes:

I forced myself to actually write this chapter and it's a little longer than the last one at least. The next chapter will be delving into Ena's thoughts and mind. please tell me if you find any mistakes, and also any feedback you can provide is extremely valuable to me, as this is my first time writing like this, after all. See you in like two weeks when the next chapter comes out lmao

Chapter 3: Update

So uh it's been a while, I had a couple bad weeks and didn't have any motivation to write the new chapter and now Silksong is out, so the new chapter will have to wait until I finish Silksong, sorry

Notes:

This is my first work ever, I've never actually written a fanfic before and I didn't do any writing basically never. I Would really appreciate pointing out any mistakes and stuff. Feedback is also really welcome