Work Text:
as Airi's class concludes, she made her way through the streets in between her school and the nearest mall.
throughout the way, she peeked at her phone to check upon Minori, who she will meet later.
a pinging sound echoes from the depths of her bag, signifying Minori has texted her. the message read as follows:
"Airi chan! do you mind coming over to the arcade?"
her face expression suddenly changed. she then slows down her stroll to conjure up a response.
"uhh. Minori chan? did i accidentally talk to Shizu chan for a second there? As far as i can tell, that's not the costume rental shop."
Seconds later, Minori responds to Airi
"i apologize for the confusion, Airi chan. But, i might've forgot to tell you beforehand about this new activity i'm doing. Can you come over please?"
"guess i wasn't mistaken after all. I'm on the way!"
as Airi reached the mall, many shops, fans and restaurants littered her path, but at long last, she reached the entrance of the arcade, where she noticed
a Minori dripping in sweat and looking exhausted.
Airi's surprised by this and asks "Minori chan, you look sweaty. Have you been practicing for our latest show soon?"
Minori, with a confused expression, asks "..wait, i completely forgot."
Airi's expression changes completely. afterwards, she follows up with
"How come you look like you already rehearsed, then?"
Minori looks embarassed and doesn't answer....
"What's the matter, Minori chan?" Airi asks once again.
"Should i tell you, Airi chan?" says Minori, now blushing from embarassment.
"Tell what?"
Afterwards, Minori holds Airi's hand and leads her just outside the place filled with music and sound effects of arcade machines.
Airi finally figures out why Minori is flustered.
"So this is where your money went to?"
"uhmm, yes! Now you see why i had to borrow money from Shizuku chan for the train fare yesterday. I may have spent them here!"
Airi was shocked with this news, "So this explains you being this sweaty"
"Y-yes, Airi chan!" Afterwards, Minori holds Airi's hands and they wander inside the establishment, a few steps later, they stop just short
of their destination: a huge machine connected to a stage by thick wiring, within this stage embedded to the ground lies 2 sets of 4 arrows and a raised
bar. Nearby the premises also lies Minori's bag dangling besides the massive speaker at the bottom of the game she's showing Airi.
"Huh, interesting game. Mind showing me how it works?" Airi asks.
Minori, upon hearing this, trembled and didn't answer.
Airi then asks again a few moments later,
"Uhh, Minori chan? Something wrong?"
she then finally responds, "well, i could show you, but, i'm not very good at it."
"Oh, don't worry about it," Airi tells Minori. "We all start somewhere, one cannot be expected to be good"
"Alright, i guess!" Minori nervously exclaims as she reaches out to her bag in order to insert more credits.
During this time,a peculiar Nene peeks from the distance, hidden by rows of other arcade machines and passersby. Being there hours ago, she
witnessed Minori fumble the settings of her gameplay, leading to an unreadable scroll speed and trippy looking notes.
"She needs help." Nene whispers to herself, However, she gets dragged by her friend away from them.
"Minori definitely doesn't!" this figure claims to Nene.
"But Haruka chan, she's been struggling for the past 3 credits!"
"Shh! They'll hear us!" as Haruka drags Nene farther from the two.
Meanwhile, Minori unveiled her account card for that particular arcade operator. It was an official card decorated with more more jump. Airi
was amused to see this as this proves they're gaining traction. she then asks
"Is this why you decided to try this game? Because there's us in it?"
Minori replies "Why yes! They added Newly Edgy Idols and i wanted to see how it feels to play our own song!"
Airi becomes excited as she hears the familiar beat from the machine, emanating through the premises. After Minori was done showing some
other songs, she sets up her phone to record Minori, which scared her.
"W-wait, why are you recording me, Airi chan?" she asks.
Airi answers "Well, i wanted to share how you'd do to Haruka chan and Shizu chan!"
After that moment, Minori blushes once again before exclaiming
"Please don't! Haruka chan might laugh at me..." Airi laughs at Minori's expression and puts down her phone.
Moments later, the chart starts, and a flurry of arrows come crashing down the judgement line. Perhaps it was too fast, as Minori's struggling
to get perfect hits on each arrow.
The song was ended prematurely when the HP bar dropped to 0 after missing too many notes. Minori stepped down from the pad nearly crying.
"Why cry, Minori chan?" as Airi approached Minori.
"As you saw, i failed the chart. Haruka chan doesn't deserve to see it." she exclaims.
Airi then asks "Hmm. I saw that the chart is fast. a bit.. too fast. Is it meant to be like that, Minori chan?"
Minori answers "I too wonder why it's that way, Airi chan! When i first started, the speed was much slower. I don't know what happened or what
i pressed earlier"
Minori and Airi both think, with Airi coming up with a possible answer first. "I think this has something to do with scroll speed. Did you tinker
with it by any chance?"
"I can't remember" Minori answers.
Seconds later, a voice comes out from their left. it was Nene and none other than Haruka.
"Allow me" as Nene approaches the machine and presses the middle button, accessing the settings menu. While she was tinkering with the options,
Minori notices Haruka's nearby.
"HARUKA!" she yells. Haruka lets out a giggle and says
"Minori, me and Nene chan were watching you accidentally set the scroll speed to the maximum. Don't worry, she's fixing it now. I hope you're
ready for a round two."
Minori, without a second thought, answers
"I'm more than ready for a second rodeo if it's for you, Haruka chan!"
"as expected from my dear Minori." as Haruka steps back, Airi does the same and stands near Haruka. as soon as she was done walking towards her,
Nene calls Minori,
"aand done! Fixed your settings now, Minori chan. Hopefully the arrows come slowly this time around, I also changed the appearance of your
arrows to be less eye straining. My eyes hurt looking at the option you selected. Anyways, good luck, Minori chan!"
"T... thanks, Nene chan!" Nene leaves a thumbs up as she too steps back to watch besides Haruka and Airi.
Moments later, the song starts. as Airi hit the record button on her phone, she notices that the arrows were moving much slower. the relief was
visible on Minori's face as she was now actually able to hit the notes.
Nene and Haruka cheered on Minori as the combo number rose up. "FIGHTO, FIGHTO, MINORI!" they chant in unison.
The climax soon hit all of them when the song struck moa moa, JUMP!
Even the spectators couldn't help but jump as well.
As the song ended, Minori was left exhausted, but her efforts paid off as the results screen showed a full combo. Everyone from Airi, Haruka, Nene
to even the passersby who happened to watch her dance applauded her, but Haruka applauded her more than the others.
"Good job, Minori chan! We should do this together, after all. there's a second stage just besides this one. Mind teaching me?" Haruka asks.
"EVERYTHING FOR YOU, HARUKA CHAN!" as Airi and Nene giggled in the distance over Minori being in love.