Author's Note: This isn't about that song by The Script. This was actually inspired by a post on the Love Live! subreddit, by /u/andmeuths
Six degrees of separation is the idea that all living things and everything else in the world is six or fewer steps away from each other so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.
Or something. With the rain pouring outside and her lack of an umbrella - as was expected of her luck - Tsushima Yoshiko was sufficiently bored that even Yohane would not manifest into the mortal world to take her place even temporarily. Thus, she decided to open her phone's browser and - after checking that there was also nothing to interest her in social media - decided to open a random article in Wikipedia and perhaps play that so-called 'Wikipedia game' which she'd heard about. As the page initially loaded, she entertained the idea of letting Hanamaru - ahem, 'Zuramaru" - try it out for herself, for the amusement of seeing her amazement and apprehension at such modern technology, but the first random article to greet Yoshiko seemed interesting enough that the 'game' she decided to try slipped out of her mind.
In a way, it was an interesting concept. All human beings are connected to each other in six steps or fewer? It sounded impossible considering how many people are out there, and there would be no way that two complete strangers would be connected by four other people that they may or may not know. And yet, the same uncertainty made the idea plausible. What if, indeed, you may actually be connected to a complete stranger simply because a friend of your friend is a friend of theirs? It was mind-boggling, to say the least, but as she pondered those thoughts, the old bell above the door of the cafe she was in rung, announcing the entrance of a customer. Smooth burgundy hair swung forward like the opened door as the customer rushed in and looked around frantically, only to relax ever so slightly when she and the only other customer in the cafe made eye contact. A sigh of relief was heard from her as she closed her transparent umbrella, adjusted her denim jacket and the pink dress underneath it, and then proceeded to the table. It was, of course, the person Yoshiko had been expecting.
"Sorry for being late, Yocchan! Did I make you wait for too long?"
No matter how many times she's said it, the nickname never failed to make Yoshiko feel giddy. It was, after all, the first time someone else called her by a nickname. Yohane felt it to be a perfect time to show herself just then. "Worry not, Riri, I have not been here for long," she replied in Yohane's signature deep voice. Besides, she wouldn't want to expose lest she come off as sounding uncool, with the rain pouring outside and her typically-horrible luck deciding that it would rain the second she arrived, she was basically stuck here with no choice but to sit and wait. Not that she'd have gone anywhere even without the rain, of course.
Sakurauchi Riko smiled at her, then sat down on the other side of the table. She'd initially been wary of Yoshiko's...eccentric personality, but, as with the rest of the school idol group the two of them belonged in, she came to embrace this side of her junior, though they would still try to keep her in check when the situation doesn't call for Yohane's presence. Regardless, it was an endearing part of her which, they all agreed, made Yoshiko who she is. Riko, in particular, even liked seeing Yohane come out every so often. It did make her sound cool, and it was even cute in some situations, like when Yohane gave Riko her own affectionate endearment. It sounded so cute, especially coming from a self-proclaimed fallen angel.
Now that Riko had arrived, the two proceeded to order their favorite snack: strawberry shortcakes. Strawberries had always been Yoshiko's longtime favorite, though it was an acquired taste for Riko, who didn't exactly dislike them, but also didn't initially like them as much as her friend.
For her part, though, what Riko really liked about the shortcake is how Yoshiko looked like while eating it, and she would often spend more time watching Yoshiko savor and take delight in each bite in a display of cuteness that no one else in the group could match.
As is the case right now. Riko had rested her head on her hands and was dreamily admiring the girl in front of her, as her object of adoration continued eating with little care for the rest of the world. She noticed Yoshiko's phone on the table, and beside it, connected by a thin strap, was a rubber charm of her favorite little demon plush - a gift from Riko, and she could still vividly remember how Yoshiko reacted to it, first stuttering wildly as she meekly accepted the gift, then following up with a blindingly bright smile and shimmering eyes as she admired the precious charm, before looking deeply into Riko's eyes and mouthing a barely-audible 'thank you'.
Watching her like that, Riko sometimes wondered what it would have been like without Aqours. After all, even though they were schoolmates, the only reason why they started interacting on closer terms than that was due to the formation of their school idol group. Before Aqours, Riko was a stranger in a new world, and even with Chika, Riko's first true connection with her new world, it had been some time before she allowed herself to reach out to her. As for Yoshiko...well, she didn't have to wonder. In any other situation, Riko admitted to herself, she would have most likely avoided any sort of interaction with her weird underclassman.
'And maybe that would have been for the worse.' Riko got to know so much more about Yoshiko than meets the eye because of Aqours. All she might have noticed otherwise would have been the odd side of her, and it made her appreciate Yoshiko so much more. Especially the side of her Riko's witnessing right now, which is still savoring every bit of the strawberry shortcake with a face that can rival the dessert in its sweetness. Riko couldn't help but giggle again, but her eyes then gravitated towards the phone on the desk. From what she could see, it seemed to be an article about...
'Six degrees of separation?' The term seemed familiar... Yoshiko still seemed to be preoccupied with her shortcake, so Riko discreetly inched the phone towards her.
As she read through the entry, Riko thought back to earlier: what would it be like without Aqours? Riko had been a stranger here. Yoshiko, in many ways, had been one as well. That's pretty much the only thing they'd had in common, and had Chika passed her by that afternoon, had Riko been more firm in her rejections to Chika's invitations...
As she gave it even more thought, Riko realized that what she had with Yoshiko was a perfect demonstration of what she was reading about: Riko's first friend here was Chika; through her, she is connected to Kanan, who is one of Chika's childhood friends; followed by Dia, who is one of Kanan's own childhood friends; then by Ruby, who is Dia's sister; then by Hanamaru, who is Ruby's best friend; and finally by Yoshiko, who is Hanamaru's childhood friend.
'So...that would mean Yocchan is my neighbor's childhood friend's childhood friend's sister's best friend's childhood friend...?' Just trying to put all that together gave her a mild headache, but after it passed, she felt amused by her own thoughts, and by the very idea which sparked them. Exactly six degrees of separation. It seemed so weird...and, somehow, at the same time, so perfect. It's like it was fated for her and Yoshiko to meet, despite starting so far away from each other.
"Riri?" Yoshiko's voice, laced with a hint of concern, entered her ears and eased her out of her reverie. "You haven't touched yours yet; is something wrong with it?" Riko dreamily shook her head, a small smile still present on her face as she pushed Yoshiko's phone back across the table.
"No, it's fine, Yocchan," Riko assured. "Do you want some of it?" Before Yoshiko could muster a response, Riko already had a forkful of shortcake in front of her face, and whatever she wanted to say was immediately replaced by stuttering and an expression that was torn between weakly refusing and wholeheartedly accepting. "Say 'ahh', Yocchan."
Oh, how could she resist? Especially since it's Riri feeding it to her, with an unbearably cute and impossible-to-refuse expression to go along with it. Her mouth shakily opened to accept Riko's offering, but any hesitation on her part immediately vanished as soon as her taste buds made contact with the sweet, spongy piece of heaven on Earth.
Again, Riko couldn't help but feel giddy as Yoshiko's prior expression almost immediately melted into one of pure bliss. Her mind went back to her previous thoughts, and decided that she actually has another, more direct connection between her and Yoshiko:
"Yocchan is my girlfriend," Riko whispered, followed by a soft giggle and a surprise kiss onto Yoshiko's cream-covered lips, which made the latter almost fall off her chair and made her face nearly resemble the strawberries she loved so much. This, too, seemed like fate, for them to fall in love with each other like they did. "Happy Valentine's Day, Yocchan."
Yoshiko couldn't fathom what caused the sudden attack, but she wouldn't say that she disliked it...especially when she also tasted a hint of strawberry on Riri's soft lips... "H-Happy Valentine's Day, R-Riri..."
Author's Note: I know, I know, I should be working on my 'main' projects. But inspiration comes and goes; you can't choose when it pops out, and you certainly shouldn't let it go to waste when it does. Plus, I think this is a good workup to keep my creative gears running smoothly.
This is also my first true foray into the yuri side of things, so forgive me if this might 'need more'.
Also, Happy Valentine's Day/Single Awareness Day/February 14!