"Oh man I'm going to be late! Again!" Honoka sprinted down the stairs of her house, jumping through the last few steps and making record time in putting on her boots before making a mad dash out of the store, which only made the youngest redhead of the household roll her eyes as she tended to the shop's counter. "Have fun!" Yukiho yelled but her older sister most likely didn't hear her.
Normally, Honoka would take forever to get her energy worked up after waking up but the adrenaline being pumped into her bloodstream made the former leader of μ's be able to run a marathon, or an obstacle course in this case as she had to jump over large puddles and make sure she didn't slip in the snowy streets of winter Tokyo. Honoka took out her phone from her jacket and took a look at the time.
'If I cut through the next alleyway and there's no traffic, I should be able to cut a couple of minutes.'
Honoka nodded, mentally reassuring herself that she could still save this. She could do it! The alleyways was coming up. Honoka made a sharp turn to her left to head for it, slipping in the process as her foot had the misfortune to just be in a small batch of ice. Thankfully all of her balance and reflexes had been greatly improved in her time as a school idol and she quickly recovered and continued on her marathon. Coming out of the alleyway, a wave of relief came to Honoka as she saw the street practically empty of any traffic from both sides. A great weight had been taken off of her shoulders as it was now just a straight dash. Taking a deep breath, Honoka calmed her beating heart before breaking into another sprint. She thanked the gods that all the streets had been void of traffic made her trip seem like a breeze, what usually would've taken from 30 up to 40 minutes of walking and waiting had been turned into a mere 15 of running.
She just hoped that she wouldn't be mad for being so late.
Honoka deep down knew that she wouldn't be mad. She has never been mad at her before and it certainly wouldn't change for simply being late; it still didn't change the fact that it made Honoka feel guilty about being late.
Honoka stopped and leaned against the cold concrete wall of the building, resting all of her weight on it as she panted and slowed down her heartbeat. She wasn't sure when was the last time since she had ran so much in such a hurry after graduating from high school. To think that it had been 2 years already since her graduation ceremony. Honoka couldn't help but to smile at the bitter sweet memory of leaving Otonokizaka High behind. She shrugged it off. 'Focus Honoka!' she had to remind herself she had finally made it to her destination. She took a deep breath before walking up to the front entrance and pushing open the door and walking inside.
The first thing to welcome Honoka was the warm air from the constantly used ovens and the delicious, oh so delicious smell of freshly baked goodies. Honoka's lips curved into a big smile as she closed the door behind her and let the comfortable warmth set in and warm her. She loved this place: a bakery and a barista cafe in the same place? If this wasn't paradise it sure as heck was close to it. After her self indulging moment, Honoka looked at the farthest table at the back and there she saw her sitting down at their usual spot with a large mug of her black tea. Just seeing her made her so happy, she couldn't help it.
As Honoka began to approach her however, her happiness drained with each closer step, remembering how late she was. By the time she got to the table and pulled the chair to sit down, Honoka's head was already hanging in shame. She felt how the pair of emerald eyes were staring at her and it made her feel even worse. Honoka hit her face on the table and then placed her hands it.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, Tsubasa-chan! I-i was really looking forward for today and I was really excited but then I couldn't fall asleep until it was very late and I ended up oversleeping!" Honoka couldn't even bare to look at her in the eyes.
"You were late for our date. Again."
Ugh, right where it hurt. Honoka sniffled.
"But I'll forgive you again. And again and again, as many times as I need to."
Honoka looked up and saw that Tsubasa was just smiling at her.
"Because I love you, Honoka"
The ginger felt her face get hot incredibly fast and it most certainly wasn't because of the warm air of the establishment, it was the person right in front of her who always managed to swoon her without even trying. Honoka quickly perked up and held Tsubasa's hands tightly
"I-i love you too, Tsubasa-chan!"
Tsubasa squeezed back and held on to Honoka's hands for a few more moments before they both let go of each other.
"H-have you been waiting long…?" Honoka shyly asked, still embarrassed about being late
"Not as long as in our first date" Tsubasa joked and let out a small giggle. Her girlfriend only awkwardly laughed. "Don't worry about it, okay Honoka?" The shorter woman smiled gently and placed her hand on top of the other's.
"Okay, I won't" She nodded and gently held on to her girlfriend's hand.
A waiter approached the couple of lovebirds with a notepad and pen in each hand "Can I offer you anything Miss Kousaka?"
"Ah, yes! I'll um…" Honoka thought for a moment "I want a Mocha Latte" she nodded twice in approval of her own decision
"And a plate of scones and a pair of sandwiches" Tsubasa added to the order. She waited for a moment to see if Honoka wanted anything else "That'll be all for now then, thank you" The waiter finished writing down their order and bowed before leaving.
"Ooh, scones. Fancy" Honoka twirled her imaginary mustache, which caused the other to laugh.
"I see that you've been practicing your English" Tsubasa pointed out before taking a sip of her tea.
"Yes, I've been practicing a lot!" Honoka spoke before giggling at her own English "I'm actually kinda proud of it"
"And you have every right to be. Very few people can speak it as well as you Honoka"
"Well, you've been helping me for almost two years" Honoka beamed Tsubasa a smile. Tsubasa felt her heart go faint for a moment before she could smile back. "So how's work been?"
"Oh, well, you know" Tsubasa took a deep breath and sighed "Stressful as usual. While it's still as fun to sing and dance for our fans, it's tiring and having almost no private life is not getting any easier. Thankfully we've got this place."
Tsubasa and Honoka often came to this bakery-cafe. It was a somewhat small place in the heart of the residential area, which meant that it attracted next to zero attention from any watchful eyes. The clerk were conscious enough about letting them have their own private time in their establishment and the two quickly became regular customers. The two girlfriends almost always used this place to rendezvous for each of their dates too. It was quiet, humble, comfortable and the food was quite good as well. Really, it was rather surprising that this place wasn't as popular as it deserved to be, but they weren't going to file a complaint about their only safe zone.
"And what about you? Have you figured out what to do yet?" Tsubasa asked right after having taken another sip of her tea
"No… not yet. Mom and Dad have been talking about which University to send Yukiho off to and were thinking about sending me to abroad to a culinary school but… I don't know" Honoka frowned as she rubbed her arm uncomfortably. Ever since she graduated from high school she found herself lost. All of her life she had had Umi and Kotori by her sides and now Kotori was studying in France and Umi had inherited her family's dojo. Even the rest of μ's were too busy with their own lives: Rin is off studying nutrition with a sports scholarship, both Hanayo and Nico successfully started their own careers as solo idols, Maki was about to fully inherit the Nishikino Hospital and last time she had heard of Eli and Nozomi was that they had adopted a baby and something about advocating gay rights.
But here was Honoka. Still same old Honoka, who hadn't made any big change in her life. She had turned down so many music producers offering to start her solo career as an idol: something about being by her own on stage rubbed her off in the wrong way. The same would've been for her own life if it hadn't been for the wonderful person that was sitting in front of her right now. Tsubasa had stuck around her despite everyone's lives drastically changing and she was much more than grateful for it.
"Honoka, can I just say that you look beautiful with your hair down"
"E-eh?!" Honoka just noticed that she forgot to tie her hair after waking up. She had been in such a hurry to get ready that she just forgot about her ribbon "I forgot about my ribbon!"
Tsubasa was silent for a few moments, slowly piecing together that Honoka looked stunning… by accident. Next thing she knew was that she was laughing and that her girlfriend had joined in too.
A good few moments happened before the finally calmed down "Do you really mean it? I've never really changed my sidetail except for costumes" Honoka stroked the side of her hair in wonder
"Yes, you look gorgeous Honoka. Even more than usual, before you say anything" The ginger's train of through was broken by an unusual compliment.
Honoka chuckled, Tsubasa read her joke before she couldn't even start it.
"Say, the girls and I are planning to have a small break from being idols and go on a trip" Tsubasa looked directly into Honoka's sapphire eyes.
"A trip? W-where to?" Honoka tilted her head. The waiter had come back with their order and they both thanked him as he left.
"Yes, a trip to unwind ourselves, simply relax and get away from the press. We haven't told anyone that we're doing a getaway to New York during our two week break"
"Hmm, yeah that makes sense. They wouldn't let you be if you told them that you're going away to New York" Honoka nodded and took a sip of mocha and then promptly choking on it "Wait, New York?!"
"Yes, New York" Tsubasa took a paper napkin and leaned towards Honoka, wiping her chin clean off coffee. "And I wanted to ask you something"
Honoka coughed as she tried to catch her breath "Ask me what?" she wondered once she recovered
"I don't think I'd be able to handle Anju and Erena all over each other for two weeks on my own" Tsubasa sighed and she placed a sandwich over a spread out napkin on the table.
"Would you like to come with me to New York?"