sweetdevil | 75th ♫ | Shall I name this heart-rending pain "Snow Halation"?

[ available in the million and one AUs i have for her & BD verse as well ]

[ Let's do the AU where Ai lived, and the twins are still small and growing up.

It's the first holiday Aqua's been able to actually talk and walk around. While there's still a struggle between what he's able to think and what his body is able to do, at least the gap is closing.

He's not really old enough to buy presents for his family yet. Though the part of him that's a doctor feels like it must be his responsibility.

Picking out decorations is also part of the holiday, and that's why they're browsing online, crowded around Ai's phone. It's harder to shop in person when Ai is so well known, after all. ]

[ Ai had never thought she was a girl for Christmas decorations. Holidays in the Hoshino household mostly went without comment, if she was lucky. The children's home had done its best but year in and year out they had put up the same raggedy old decorations that became increasingly wilted as the years went by. She'd ended up assuming that Christmas wasn't really for her and that had been that.

Until Aqua and Ruby had been born, of course. Everything had changed the moment she knew the two of them even existed and the more time that passes with the two of them, the more she finds the things she'd taken for granted that she liked or disliked aren't quite so set in stone. Once upon a time the prospect of a family Christmas would have made her wince — now she can't wait. Saitou had snarked that she was even more hyped up about it than the actual kids and she hadn't been able to disagree. ]

Ooooo-kay! That's the tree squared away! [ She's ordered the biggest one that will actually fit in the apartment. Because of course she has. ] Now we've gotta pick out things to actually go on it... ooh, maybe we could go all in on color coding!

[ She gives Aqua a little grin. ]

What do you think?

[ Christmas celebrations for the Hoshino household are a private affair by necessity - nothing like the kind of gaudy party that B-Komachi were allegedly posting photos of on social media to show what close friends they all were. Never mind that all the photos had been taken in the back end of August and they'd all been suffocating in the winter clothes they'd been styled in. What mattered was how it looked to the fans and what they thought Ai of B-Komachi was up to over Christmas. So while Ai of B-Komachi sings karaoke and laughs and drinks with friends, Hoshino Ai can worry about the real celebration.

... Emphasis on worry. ]

Aquaaaa! Do you remember where the band aids are?!

[ Disaster strikes in the Hoshino family kitchen once again and dead in the strike zone is a despondent looking Ai, carefully elevating her hand high above and away from the cutting board.

Christmas dinner prep is... not going well. It's the first year that Ai has insisted on doing the whole thing herself and the learning curve has been... interesting to feel out. ]

Edited 2023-12-07 07:57 (UTC)

[ Even if there'd ever been a chance of Ai going to any high school, it would never have been a fancy place like Gekkoukan. Well, strictly speaking, she has no real frame of reference for how fancy or otherwise it might be but it's Kotone's school and Kotone's so much smarter than she is - so it stands to reason that it's not the kind of school that someone like Ai would be able to get into. So she has no reason to come by.

Except here she is on the last day of term before winter break just casually hanging around at the school gates as if she's not the least bit out of place. She's made a barely token effort to go incognito with cute braids and a heavy winter jacket but she seems to mostly be relying on the sheer plausible deniability and people dismissing the idea that B-Komachi's Ai would be hanging around a place like this. And bizarrely, it's working?!

She doesn't really draw a lot of attention to herself while she's waiting (though inevitably she does anyway - occupational hazard) but the instant she spots Kotone, Ai pops out from beside the gate and starts waving. With both arms. She's kind of making a scene?!?! ]

Over here! Surpriiiiiiise!

[ it is a nice school. nicer than any kotone's attended previously. either way, if she heard ai voicing those thoughts, she would probably just put her hands on both sides of her face and tell her not to talk about herself like that. like she's one to talk, some days. but then, they see something in each other they can't always recognize in themselves, right?

she normally keeps busy, maintaining a couple of extracurriculars along with her music practice and everything at home, but with the holidays approaching, she's actually getting out at a normal time. kotone does a double take when ai just jumps out into view, expression going on a rapid journey between surprise, happiness, excitement, and girl what the fuck are you doing? either way, she can't quite shake the light feeling in her chest as she approaches, or the smile tugging at her lips. ]

Oh my God, hi! Sei-chan, it's been so loooong! [ her eyes briefly widen in a please be cool sort of way as she says the fake name, before she pulls ai into a hug, hopping with excitement despite herself. ]

[ Sei-chan? She can't stop a laugh from bubbling out of her (seriously, did Kotone just have that one on tap or something?) but it's a pretty giggly situation, so she gets away with it. She happily tosses her arms around Kotone in turn, squeezing her in a tight hug and enjoying the way her cheeks burn up when she does so. They're definitely being stared at by passing students but Ai doesn't care — in fact, letting everyone see this little reunion is ideal! ]

Right? Hasn't it? It's been forever! [ hours, even. how on earth did Ai even survive? ] My bad for not calling ahead but- I mean, it's your last day in school, right? I wanted to surprise you for winter break!

[ That's the truth, at least. ]

[ if ai asked, she'd say she hadn't had it ready to go, of course. but—

sei. 星. not just her surname, but—

the way she lights up a room. the way kotone feels lit up and warmed every time ai's near, every time her eyes are only on her. it's all senseless, lovestruck rambling, best left in scribbled, halfbaked lyrics in notebooks that will never see the light of day.

she squeezes ai, laughter finally dying down as she pulls back to look at her. ]

You definitely did! Hope you didn't have to wait too long...? [ she laughs a little as she says it, but she's sure to feel guilty over it if that's the case. ] Soooo, where to? Since you went to all the trouble?

[ kotone grins sideways at her, adjusting one of the straps on her guitar's gig bag. ]

Nope! Actually, I got a little turned around on the way here so I took a bit longer than I wanted to, but I set out early just in case — so it kind of all balanced out?

[ She giggles, looking all sorts of proud of herself. It's not necessarily that her sense of direction is that bad but she's so used to being chauffeured around from job to job that actually making her way somewhere by herself without Miyako at the wheel is a bit of a challenge. But Kotone's happy! So that's the important part. Never mind the truly embarrassing amount of time she spent desperately squinting at train routes and her GPS app. ]

A-ny-way! ★ The surprise iiiiiis... [ She dips her hand into her pocket for a second and produces two bright and poppy tickets for... something that has an incomprehensibly cutesy logo font. ] Tah-dahhh! Tickets to a sweets buffet! Christmas is the best time of year for sweets, isn't it?

[ oh, not to worry, kotone doesn't doubt for a second that ai got almost hopelessly lost on the way here. she's always been like that. but still, crossing tokyo alone isn't easy when you aren't used to it. ]

Yep, yep, great job. [ she reaches out with a sigh to give ai's hair a light ruffle, and the put-upon tone is undercut by just how fondly she's looking at her. when ai goes on to tell her where they're going, though? kotone beams. ]

No way! I've heard about this one, these tickets always sell out craaaaaaazy fast... [ she's... excited? genuinely? that's always fun, and it happens more and more lately. she shifts, briefly, looking more thoughtful as they start walking. she throws her a quick meaningful please read between the lines sort of look. ] Are you, uh, good to be out for this long in your offtime? The cats, and all...

[ just to be sure, miyako's watching the twins, right? ]

Sure I am! [ Ai gives her a very confident seeming wink, which is impressive considering how easily she just admitted to totally beefing it on her way here. ] She had some paperwork-y stuff to do at home, so I left it to her!

[ Which explains why Ai was left unattended to get here by herself, at least.

As they fall into step, she loops her arm cheerily through Kotone's, smiling one of her best butter-wouldn't-melt smiles, like she's just daring all the passersby still stealing glances at them to say something about it. ]

I figured sweets would be more fun than a regular buffet, anyway. Not that a regular buffet isn't good, but- jeez, doesn't it always turn out that somebody else grabbed the last piece of whatever you were looking at and they're not gonna put out any more for an hour or something? At least with a sweets buffet, if they run out of one kind of cake, there's like ten more you could try!

[ December comes and paints the town over in rainbow lights. It seems like ever year in Tokyo, there's no expense spared on illuminations and they get brighter and even more colorful every single time. For a lovey-dovey gachikoi group like B-Komachi, Christmas is usually one of the busiest times of the year for them but Saitou's been unusually lax this time around. He'd made some excuses about Ai having a busy year and giving her some time to breathe, but Ai suspects he's taking a bit of a calculated loss - because Ai would've made her own plans for Christmas anyway.

It's not quite a true white Christmas yet - too cold for snow, the weatherman says - but everything is frosted over in white as it is and Ai finds that she likes this better. It's so cold, in fact, that bundled up in a scarf and coat and after dark, even without covering her face, nobody recognises her. Nobody even looks twice. To anybody who gives her a passing glance, Hoshino Ai looks like any other girl on a Christmas Eve date. ]

Shouuuu! Did I keep you waiting?

[ They're meeting a little ways away from the lights they're going to see and Ai knows it's a bit silly to make him go on head - they live together, after all. But there's something about actually coming to meet him for a date that makes her feel kind of fluttery and excited. For just one night, Hoshino Ai gets to be a regular girl like anybody else. ]

[ Are senpais supposed to give presents for Christmas? Ai's not sure - none of the girls in B-Komachi had ever done it, apart from the year Kyun had gotten really into baking and loaded them all up with cookies. She only ever really bothers with gifts for the twins and then Saitou and Miyako but it strikes her as she's shopping that it feels a bit mean to leave Kana out.

So she gives it a shot. She can't get anything fancy — it's kind of terrifying to have an adult press something like that onto you, right? — but she's caught Aqua and Kana reading the same books enough times to guess their shared taste and Ruby and Memcho manage to help her pick out something she hasn't read.

She waits until everyone else is out and it's just Kana in the office (that's less embarrasing, right?) before she pokes her head in quite casually, the messily wrapped gift hidden behind her back. Hoshino Ai is a master of stealth and subtlety. ]

Oh, Kana-chan! It's just you today?

Ah...

[ Kana should have expected this. After all, this was the Strawberry Productions office, one where any of their staff members, idol or otherwise could wind up coming and going.

But she finds herself feeling a little awkward in Ai's presence, especially given that it is very much just the two of them. ]

Yeah, it's just me. I just dropped by to check in on some things with Miyako-san, especially since it's getting close to Christmas.

Aah, isn't it just? I'm glad they eased off the gachikoi for you three... it used to be we were going nonstop all through Christmas, since it's the most romantic time of the year... it's the sort of time fans want to feel like they're not alone, you know?

[ Truth be told, she hadn't minded it — not then and not now, even in hindsight. She might have mixed feelings about everything to do with her time in B-Komachi but that she can never regret. If she'd been able to reach out and make someone's lonely days just a little brighter, how could that ever be something she regrets? ]

Have you at least got a little free time for Christmas, though? Or do you have plans?

Honestly. Well, I'm sure some idols don't mind the gachikoi, but I'm certainly not one of them. If they don't want to feel alone, they can go watch something on Youtube with some fried chicken or something. Idols are people, too.

[ ...

She does look at Ai with a bit of curiosity when she brings up if she's free or not. ]

I don't really have any plans for Christmas. Why?

Well...

[ She casts around for an excuse and realizes as she does so that she's really only trying to drag this out because she's embarrassed and apprehensive. What if Kana's embarrassed? What if she hates it? What if getting a gift from Ai is the last thing she wants?

The only way to find out is to actually get it over with, of course. So with her smile turning a little sheepish, she pulls out the brightly wrapped gift from behind her back for Kana to see. ]

I guess I was hoping you'd have enough time for this?

Huh?

[ She's just caught completely off guard when she sees the gift. Sure, sometimes people would try to get her stuff, but most of that was for B-Komachi. Not really her.

Even her mother hadn't gotten her a gift in a very, very long time. ]

You really didn't have to...

Oh come on, I couldn't just leave you out, could I? What kind of a senpai would I be if I did that?

[ Is this a senpai thing? It feels a little easier to make out like it is rather than admitting the truth: that she's heard exactly enough things about Kana's family situation in little bits and scraps through the grapevine that there's no way she could pass on at least trying to make this time of year a little less lonely.

That's what idols are for, right? ]

I just thought I should get you something to open too.

. . . Well. Ruby is your daughter. And Memcho is Memcho.

[ There's literally no other way to describe her. She's just simply like that. ]

Do you mind if I open it now?

[ it says something about the b-komachi state of affairs that the youtuber is the most normal person in the group, huh ]

Mm, go ahead! Ah, actually I was kind of hoping you would...

[ She fiddles nervously with a lock of her hair, for lack of anything else to do with her hands. ]

I asked Ruby and Memcho to help me pick it out but if it's not the right one, I can change it for you!

Okay. Let's see what this is, then...

[ She's going to open it. But she's very much being delicate about it, not trying to tear it too much. ]

[ It's a glossy hardback book, complete with dustcover and fancy bookmark, centered specifically around mysteries and bizarre occurrences from all around the globe. The focus seems to be on solving them or at least providing reasonable explanations, with a whole lot of research and associated trivia. It's pretty chunky!

Ai fidgets a bit as she watches her open it — it's the sort of thing she'd thought about buying Aqua and according to Ruby, he and Kana were always gravitating towards the same books so... it should be fine, right? ]

Is that the right one...? I was really trying not to get you one you already had, ahah...

[ She's quiet and wide-eyed for a couple of moments as she takes the book out of its packaging, fingers lingering on the cover for a few moments before smiling fondly. ]

It is. Thank you.

Ah, really? [ It's almost a little sad how relieved she looks... ] Phew...! They're not the kind of books I read so I didn't know what would be good. Oh, but—

[ She puts up both hands almost a little apologetically — so this is what it looks like when a so-called invincible girl's off her game. ]

Don't feel like you have to keep it if it's really no good! I can change it for something else — I just wanted to get you a present, that's all.

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bakingsoda - 2024-01-08 23:08 (UTC) - Expand

75th ♫ | Shall I name this heart-rending pain "Snow Halation"?

Ai Hoshino ★ Oshi no Ko

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