(A/N: My first Aikatsu fic! Ichigo x Aoi with strawberry parfait shenanigans. Enjoy!)
Ichigo's face was positively glowing as she gazed lovingly at the mountain of strawberry goodness before her. The Strawberry Parfait Deluxe Special was a gorgeous blend of vanilla, whipped cream, additional wafers and delicious strawberries on top. Now it was right on her plate, ready for feasting upon. The dessert was bigger than she was. It certainly wasn't meant to be consumed by one person.
On the other side of the table in the Starlight Academy cafeteria, Aoi and Ran watched their friend with varying amonuts of fascination and amusement, and in Ran's case, disbelief. It was impossible to see over the top of the giant strawberry parfait without standing up in their seats. On tiptoe.
"Whose idea was this?" Ran asked, a deadpan expression on her face as their blonde friend continued to stare transfixed at her dessert without actually eating it. "Aoi, did you tell her about it?"
"Of course not," Aoi replied, that smile of hers playing about her lips innocently. "I just said that this would be a rare opportunity."
"You mean you did tell her." The model sighed. "You told Ichigo about the Strawberry Parfait Deluxe Special. Aoi, we talked about this last week, and we both agreed – "
"Ran, I can't keep a secret like this from Ichigo! This is something special!" Aoi's hands strayed to the camera hanging around her neck. "Maybe we should take a picture of this. Even if it's just Ichigo staring at her food, this would be rare."
Ichigo moved her chair round to gaze at the strawberry parfait from another angle. A teaspoon was in her hand, but somehow it had frozen between her fingers before she could even taste the dessert.
"Ichigo," Ran said urgently, starting to get a bit worried now. "Can you hear me? Are you all right?"
"It's so beautiful," Ichigo sighed. She was making heart eyes at the parfait. Hearts in her eyes. Strawberry hearts, more like. "I can't eat something so perfect…not without savouring it first. This is the queen of all strawberry parfaits. If there was a school of strawberry parfaits, and the parfaits were all idols…then this would be the Starlight Queen."
Ran exchanged glances with Aoi, or at least tried to. The blue-haired idol professor was too busy looking towards Ichigo with a similar expression. Maybe she was even enjoying this. Ran wouldn't put it past her.
"Are you going to eat it yet?" she asked. "Or are you just going to sit here and gaze at that parfait forever?"
"I'm going to gaze at this parfait forever."
"Ichigo, you'll have to eat it eventually," Aoi said earnestly. "It's going to go cold."
Ran flung her a disparaging look. "It was cold to begin with." Throwing caution to the winds, she took out her own spoon. "Ichigo, we don't have time in our schedule for this. I have four interviews today, two model shoots, an autograph signing and now I'm spending my lunch break watching you stare at a giant-sized strawberry parfait whilst it slowly turns into mush."
The blonde idol pouted at that. "I know," she said blissfully. "I should eat it. It's just such a hard step to take for one so deliciously and beautiful..."
"Take the first step, Ichigo!" Aoi said encouragingly. "Take your spoon and stick it in the parfait!" She raised her own spoon. "I'll help you. On the count of three, we'll begin the great strawberry parfait feast." The spoon dipped in the air, ready to strike. "On the count of three. One…two…THREE!"
There was a loud splurgh as Aoi and Ichigo both pushed their spoons into the giant quivering mass which was the Strawberry Parfait Deluxe Special. For a moment, Ran almost thought she saw the parfait wobble in response.
The two idols froze in their tracks, their spoons stuck halfway into the dessert. Gradually, a panicked expression ran over Ichigo's face. She glanced towards Aoi and Ran helplessly.
"What are you two doing now?" Ran said, getting even more annoyed. "Just start eating it already."
Ichigo swallowed. "My spoon's stuck," she admitted.
"What?"
"So is mine," Aoi added. She pulled at her spoon, but the parfait had closed over the cutlery and had apparently set hard in a metter of seconds. The blue-haired idol strained to tug it out again, but the entire dessert started trembling when she pulled too hard. It looked like the whole thing might collapse and fall on their heads any moment.
Ichigo's face was set in concentration. She gave her own spoon another yank, but to no avail. It was stuck fast. Nevertheless, she was not the kind of girl who would give up so easily. Optimism was the key.
"Don't worry, Aoi," she said cheerfully. "This, too, is idol training!" She took a deep breath and grabbed the spoon with both hands. "Aikatsu!" Gripping it tightly, she pulled as hard as she could. "Aikatsu! Aikatsu!" It refused to budge. "Ai-katsu!"
Ran buried her head in her hands. This was getting ridiculous.
"Right," Aoi said determinedly after another minute of failing to retrieve her spoon from the gigantic parfait. "We need another plan." She turned to the long-haired idol sitting next to her. "Ran, I need your spoon."
"What?" Ran blinked as the idol professor took her spoon right out of her hand. "Aoi, wait, I don't think that's going to work – "
There was another splurgh sound as Aoi deposited Ran's spoon right into the centre of the strawberry parfait. Aoi gave her friend a winning smile, as if she had just accomplished something incredible. In a sense, she really had.
She attempted to pull the spoon out again, and her smile froze. Seeing Ran looking at her suspiciously, Aoi cleared her throat and avoided her gaze.
"You've just used up my spoon too, haven't you?" Ran asked.
Aoi flicked the handle of the doomed spoon, still set solid in the strawberry parfait. "This spoon will not have died in vain," she said. "Its memory will live on. Many spoons may follow in its footsteps - "
"That was my last spoon, Aoi!"
As optimistic as ever, Ichigo stood up in her seat energetically. "I know what we're doing wrong," she declared. "Three spoons is not enough for a strawberry parfait of this calibre. We need more! Bring MORE SPOONS!"
"More spoons!" Aoi chanted, joining in. "More! Our spoon activities, Spoonkatsu, is about to begin!"
"STOP!" Ran yelled, holding her head in despair. "No! No more spoons. Forget the spoons!" She reached over and dragged Ichigo back down into her chair. "Just eat it properly! Lunch break's almost over now!"
"Oh, fine," Aoi said with a shrug, leaning forward. "Ichigo and me can both eat it together. How's that sound?"
"That sounds fantastic," her blonde friend replied, moving to eat the top of the parfait first. Her red eyes gleamed with anticipation. "Let's go!"
Excitedly, the two girls began to nibble at each side of the strawberry parfait, their eyes lighting up as they tasted the delicious cream and swallowed it down. Ichigo's face was shining and she looked like she was in heaven. She bit into one of the strawberries, licking whipped cream off her lips, and pushed forward into the middle of the parfait at the top. This was getting her a face a little messy, but she could deal with that.
She pushed her mouth into the centre of the parfait, just as Aoi did likewise.
Eager to eat the dessert, the startled expressions on the girls' faces gave them a split second warning before their lips suddenly met in the middle.
"Whoa – wh-what…"
With the succulent taste of strawberry and cream still clinging to her tongue, Ichigo felt Aoi press her lips against hers. Almost instinctively, she kissed her back, eyes going wide at the heartfelt sensation. Before she knew it, she was kissing her best friend in the middle of the cafeteria…in the middle of the biggest strawberry parfait in existence.
Oh my.
The look on Aoi's face told her that her friend was just as surprised as she was by the kiss. Had they not been looking where they were eating, or something like that? Yet at the same time, Ichigo didn't find the kiss repulsive or nauseating, nor unwanted. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. She could taste the strawberry in Aoi's mouth as well, which made the experience all the more sweeter.
Wow. Strawberry kiss...
"Um," Ran said. She looked towards her two friends, at a complete loss for words. "That…that's one long kiss..."
Ichigo felt her eyes half-close, still enjoying the feel of Aoi's lips on hers. It was a very long kiss, that much was for sure. She opened her eyes after a while and saw a strange look in Aoi's eyes.
Uh-oh.
She attempted to pull away from Aoi's lips, mainly because they had been kissing for over a minute now without drawing breath, and she really wanted to finish eating the rest of this parfait. It had been a breathtaking experience, locking lips with her best friend, but…
Ichigo tried to pull backwards from Aoi. She felt the strawberry parfait push back.
"Mmph," she said, her voice muffled, looking at Ran urgently. Her hands were free, so she pointed to herself and Aoi, desperately making wild gestures. "Mmph!"
"Mmph," Aoi joined in.
Ran stared at the two of them in complete disbelief, not understanding. "What? What are you…"
"Mmph mrrfle, mmph. Mmprph!"
The model's face fell. Her mouth fell open in amazement. "Are you serious?" she asked. "You're stuck too?"
"Mmmph mmrfle."
"You're stuck in the kiss as well?"
Ichigo attempted to nod, but this was a mistake. Her head ended up dipping deeper into the strawberry parfait. She was starting to sink into it. And because Aoi was still glued to her lips, her blue-haired friend was rapidly sinking with her.
For a few moments, Ran just stared at her two friends with their heads stuck in the middle of the strawberry parfait. They were literally drowning in the dessert.
"Right," the model said, looking a bit scared. "That does it. I'm going to get help." She got up from her seat, dialing into her phone desperately. "Hello? Headmistress Orihime? I'm really sorry to disturb you, but this is important!"
Unable to speak, Ichigo settled for rolling her eyes a little. The headmistress of Starlight Academy probably wouldn't be the first person she'd call in this situation, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Yes," Ran was saying into the phone. "Ichigo and Aoi are drowning in a strawberry parfait! I…No, I'm not making this up! Huh? Okay."
She looked at her phone for a moment, and then helplessly at her two friends. Ran didn't dare touch the deadly parfait. It would probably suck her inside as well.
"I'm going to get Johnny-sensei," she said. "He's good at rescuing people from dangerous food. Well, he ought to be." Ran straightened her uniform, hoping that this was a good idea. "Just...don't move, okay? Keep your head above water. I mean, strawberry. Keep your head above strawberry. And don't breathe in too much cream!" She shuddered and made a run for it, calling for help.
Left alone, Ichigo and Aoi gazed at each other helplessly, still locked in the same long kiss. Aoi didn't seem to mind kissing her either, but Ichigo wasn't surprised by that in the slightest. The two of them spent so much time together that something like this was bound to happen eventually. It just had to happen in the silliest way possible.
She pushed her tongue forward and renewed her side of the kiss, watching her friend's face flush a little. Ichigo didn't mind this at all. If they were going to be stuck like this for a while, then they might as well make the most of it.