07:23PM. An annoying time to be bored. Out of all the useful things she could currently be doing, Momo Kisaragi had instead decided to pass the time by looking at a clock hung up on the wall above the kitchen table of the Kisaragi residence, her whole frame leaning against a chair's back, with her elbows pressed on very top of the chair. Her head was, of course, resting on them.
With each sound the clock made, she felt her face drowning deeper and deeper into her arms, her own eyelids refusing to listen to all of her mental attempts to keep them open. A sinking thought of sleep invaded her thoughts, but she refused to give in, instead glaring at the clock, as if that would make it tick any faster.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick...
...
Tock...
'This is counterproductive…' a thought ran through the teenager's head, as she continued to lifelessly rely on the chair to hold her as if she were a patient on life-support, the chair being whatever medical device was keeping her body from rotting away.
Just as she was about to doze off, a sudden, revolting thought dropkicked her (barely) conscious self, as if shocking her back to life.
'Gross, I'm turning into Shintaro!' The girl thought, not appeased in the slightest by the sudden realization. After all, her brother was a lazy slob by definition, and he smelled like an odd fragrance mix containing soda and wasted potential; something Momo definitely didn't want to inherit from him.
With a few unspoken words of pep-talk to herself, the girl cheerily raised an arm into the air, giving herself all the inspiration for activity she needed. The roller-skate rink was open, wasn't it? It had been forever since she visited one! Better yet; she never had a friend to accompany her, but given her current status as a member of the Mekakushi Dan, maybe… she would have someone to go with?
It was decided: she'd ask the members of the Dan to go to the rink with her, and at least one person would accept. One person had to accept, there were 4 of them, right? Not counting Ene, herself and her repugnant brother, that is.
::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::
With a knock on the doors of a very familiar housing place, the idol girl found herself standing upright, her very best show-face at the ready. Of course, she had no idea of whether or not anyone varying from Kido to Marry was available, but if she didn't try, she'd never find out.
A condescending second of waiting later, the door handle turned downwards with a slight creak, and a rather fragile and pale figure appeared behind it. This was none other than Mary Kozakura, of course.
The girl before her was quite the beautiful person, both inside and out. In fact, she reminded Momo of a kitten, and not a very brave one at that. Though, her intuition was telling her otherwise; as if this girl had seen a thousand murders. It was only just a feeling, though, and probably a wrong one, at that.
Speaking of the girl, she wore a slightly startled expression on her face, which wore off within a few seconds. The location of the Dan's hideout wasn't disclosed to a lot of people, someone familiar with the environment wouldn't knock; implying a stranger was at the door. This proved to be faulty, however. It was just a measure of politeness.
"A-Ah...! Kisaragi-san, it's nice to see you…" The white-haired girl whispered out, her voice making Momo feel rather inferior when comparing quality. Kisaragi's voice was feminine, but somewhat high-pitched, as expected of a teenager, while Mary's own was creamy, delightful fulfilling. Really, the latter should've been the idol instead of the former.
"Mary-chan, it's nice to see you, too!" Momo exclaimed, an endearing smile on her face. "Is anyone around?" She inquired, tilting her head lightly sideways to emphasize wonder.
"Oh, no, um… Kano-san and Seto-san are currently gathering resources for Commander's next operation, and she herself is currently taking a break." Mary explained, her index fingers lightly fiddling around each other. Letting someone down sure wasn't easy.
"I see.." The Idol spoke, a feeling of isolation rising in her guts, due to the current unfold of events. It was her first time alone with the other, wasn't it? Though, this wasn't any time to mope around, not all hope was lost! "In that case… Do you wanna go roller-skating with me, Mary-chan? It'll be really fun, I promise!" She spoke enthusiastically, a glimmer of determination shining in her eyes.
"I.. don't know how to roller-skate." The other anxiously admitted, looking in every direction which didn't point to her teammate's face. Or body. In fact, she felt like turning around, the embarrassment was really too much.
"That's fine, I can teach you!" Momo cut off any sort of thought train Mary was having, too stubborn to let her evening go by aimlessly and unproductively. Besides, teaching someone something, especially a girl like Mary, would definitely be exciting.
"… R-Really..?" The other stuttered out, a look of uncertainty on her face. –"Really!" Kisaragi replied almost instantly, intently staring at the other girl. Under this kind of peer pressure, Mary was very unlikely to disagree to something.
"Alright, um… should I bring anything..?" Kozakura asked, finally gathering the courage to gaze back towards the idol's general face.
"Your shoe size." The orange-haired girl replied intensely, her brow furrowed in a victorious glare. This wasn't hard at all!
::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::
A check-in and a small explanation from the receptionist later, the duo found themselves in a locker room, which, as it might've implied with its name, contained lockers. Of course, that wasn't all- there was also a bench for those who sat down while putting on their legwear.
After a short period of time adjusting their given roller-skates, Momo sat up, slowly rolling her way towards her companion.
"Think you can stand up?" the Idol asked sympathetically, though a hint of teasing could be heard in her voice.
The other only replied with a shake of her head, confirming that the answer was negative, as Kisaragi expected.
"Alright, in that case.." the less introverted one of the two spoke out, and kneeled to the more introverted one's side, putting out her hand in an offering manner. "Let me help!" The girl spoke, a smile upon her face.
With only a whimper, Mary lightly put her palm onto Momo's, putting her trust in the other. If she couldn't even grab a hand, then there was no way she could learn how to roller-skate.
The newer member pulled the older one up, a cheerful chuckle escaping her lips. She then spoke out; "Come on, just follow my steps! Left step, stroll! Right step, stroll! Simple, right?", to which the other only nodded, shyly.
Of course, it only took her three steps, maybe four, before she tumbled down to the ground face-first, pulling Momo down with her, an "Oof!" sound escaping her lips.
Naturally, the clumsy girl was the first one to sit up, immediately spouting apologies from her mouth, as if she was reciting the alphabet. Quickly reciting the alphabet. Very quickly. –However, all it took for her to calm down was a light poke to the forehead from none other but Momo herself, and a light "It's fine, it's fine, don't worry." spoken out.
'This is going to be a long night', Kisaragi thought. Not that she minded. After all, the girl was cute. Really cute.
Though, it was true, as soon as she looked into the other's eyes, she was frozen in them. Just as they had fallen, Momo could feel herself falling in another sense. A romantic sense.