2/22, Wednesday After School
"Ann-chan, turn your head more this way!"
"Mika-chan, stretch your leg out more!"
"Okay now hold those poses!"
Regular callouts from shoot managers stopped only for individual moments where photographers snapped rapid shots, capturing every angle of the models making their show. It was an exhausting procedure, one that demanded constant attention and realignment of self, and frankly Akira found himself getting worn down just watching it.
He had no idea how Ann could tolerate it. But she not only tolerated the role of a model but excelled, and that was the sole truth to it all. Akira smiled a little at that thought. No-one paid him any attention at all. Just the way he wanted it.
"Mika-chan, take a step back please."
If the flash of amusement across Ann's face was noted by anyone but Akira, it went unmentioned. With a smile that most certainly did not reach her eyes Mika retreated, her attempt to take a more front-and-center position over Ann foiled. The older model was like that constantly, Akira had been told, but more often than not she never got away with it. Ann admitted to a feeling of entertainment each time Mika tried and failed to usurp her.
That was another reason Akira would never be a model, apart from having people constantly paying attention to you, being on show and demanded to appear in a certain manner at all times, and having no real control over your own appearance. Apart from all those, it was definitely the cut-throat nature of the industry. Just watching Mika try to force her way ahead was exhausting.
Akira had only been exposed to a few of Ann's modelling shoots – the majority of which took place last year. This was the first he'd been to since being released, and he had to admit it was nice, in a way, to be present yet paid no attention. The student body of Shujin was still far too interested in Akira and the truth of his situation.
"Alright we're wrapping up!"
Jolted from his thoughts by the call, Akira focused in on the group. They were debriefing, discussing the next shoot and outlining the overall theme to go with. Ann and Mika nodded, offered a few words, and then broke away as the final discussion went to management and organisers. Ann wandered over to Akira, Mika's gaze following the blonde-haired woman's steps.
"Hey!" Ann was all smiles, the lights from the shoot somehow still caught in her eyes. "Hope you weren't too bored waiting!"
"It was nice to just relax," Akira smiled evenly back, "beats heading back to Leblanc and being behind the counter all day."
"Well don't let Boss catch you saying that," Ann laughed, amused simply because there was enough light in life to satisfy her. "You'd be doing extra shifts for the rest of the month if he heard you badmouthing the cafe!"
"Tell me about it," Akira shot back, "I have to plan ahead now to get out of there. It's almost like he misses having me around or something."
Ann smiled and it was a genuine smile, but there was still enough understanding in her face. It had only been nine days since Akira's release, and while he was seeming a lot more relaxed compared to times they'd all spent together just a few days ago, it was obvious and accepted that, at some level, he was still a little shaken up.
Ann had been at the forefront of the private discussion with the others that the best thing to do would be to just be themselves around Akira, same as always. She was sure that was what he wanted too.
"Oh Ann-senpai!" The loud drawl in Mika's voice as she approached the pair, not quite a saunter in her step but something suspicious all the same, drew enough eyes to the group. Mika was looking with wide eyes, the glint behind them obvious only to the two she was staring down. "You must be so confident bringing your boyfriend to your shoots! I feel like I'd be too distracted by bringing one, since he'd be splitting my attention from modelling and all."
To Ann's incredible credit, she did not roll her eyes in response to that, which Akira absolutely did. Mika didn't even spare him a passing glance though. He was just a means to try and get at Ann for her. Being so unimportant really did feel incredible.
"Just a friend, Mika," the absolute boredom in Ann's response quickly blew out the attention of those attracted by Mika's outcry, no amount of acting capable of matching how genuine the younger model's response was. Also despite how good of a model Mika herself was, her methods were more than understood by the majority now. She really didn't have a leg to stand on with these stunts. Ann stood up.
"Good work today," an offered hand to Mika was stared at by the woman as if it were a mass of outstretched venomous snakes. Yet ultimately she extended her hand and the two shook. Ann smiled genuinely again. Mika, to her own credit, didn't flinch away like she obviously wanted to.
"Let's get going, Akira." And scene.
The next port of call for the afternoon was a crepe store in Musashino, just north of Inokashira Park, a favoured hangout spot for the two. The majority of the trip there had been composed of Ann's amusement at Mika's attempts to one-up her that day.
"I could have sworn," Akira had let Ann revel for long enough by the time they were making their way to the shop, "that the last time Mika had agreed to a 'fair-and-square' contest between the two of you." Ann laughed lightly as they walked.
"I think this is part of what 'fair-and-square' means to her," she remarked, keeping even pace as they passed by buildings and streets. "It's all a contest, so she does her best to stand out. But she's been playing the same hand for so long now that it's not working at all. Not that I'm about to give her that advice."
Akira had never actually checked in on the depth of Ann's rivalry against Mika, the younger originally feeling some form of inspiration from the intensity of the elder, but it seemed that over the past few months some trace amounts of exhaustion with Mika's antics had slipped in. There was a key expression of delight on Ann's face when she discussed how well she was doing in their competition. A battle Akira intended to stay well clear of.
"Okay!" With the crepe shop now ahead of them, Ann redirected all of her attention away from Mika and modelling to more important matters, "What are you getting? Make sure it's something with double-cream!"
"Uh," Akira blinked, thinking about the overwhelming cloying feeling of those overloaded crepes, "It'd just be something simple for me."
"Nuh-uh!" Ann shook her head, intensity in her eyes, "You're eating this one for both of us! I'm trying to avoid having more than three a week right now!"
Whatever fool might remark that three a week was fairly overboard as it is, that fool was not Akira Kurusu. He nodded lightly. "I'm still getting something light." Ann sighed and shook her head again. What a waste of good crepe eating.
As soon as the order was made though, a nice lemon crepe fitting Akira's flavour profile, Ann refused to let him eat it. "Come on let's go!" were the orders, Akira almost being dragged through the streets back towards Inokashira Park. Questions about eating the crepe were answered with 'just wait' and 'not yet', indicating some grand plan in the mind of Ann Takamaki. A grand plan Akira himself had no inkling of.
The initial request had been from Akira to Ann, the thought that he hadn't spent enough time with her yet coming to him and a message sent to her in response. Ann's reply though had been one excited; she'd proclaimed the next Wednesday to be 'perfect' and instructed Akira to come see her next modelling shoot. It was obvious to everyone involved, all two of them, that Ann had something in mind, but that something she revealed none of.
Not until the two were in the wooded depths of the park, resting upon a bench, Ann fiddling with her phone. "Right on time," she was smiling, opening an app, "Perfect."
And when the app opened and the call connected, when the video appeared and the girl in it smiled widely, a hand brushing black hair away from brown eyes, Ann and Akira both smiled too. Ah, so this was what was happening. He raised a hand in greeting.
"Hey Shiho."
"Surprised?" Shiho seemed pleased with herself, smile unshakeable, "Ann's been excited about this call since she arranged it."
"It's the first time we've hung out in forever!" Ann raised her arms to the air, victory achieved. "This is a celebration of my friends!"
It was, indeed, the first time the trio had been together in months. The last time had been on the roof of Shujin, just prior to Shiho's departure from Tokyo. It was unfair, Akira felt, that she had to move so far away, but that was what her parents had decided. So close to his own departure now, he felt greater and greater empathy for Shiho Suzui. Likely Ann had clued into that as well.
Shiho, on the other side of the video, raised a hand, a pink crepe grasped within. "Here for our crepe date!" she smiled. Akira blinked.
"Crepe date?" He gave Ann a sidelong glance, "I should be leaving the two of you to it then, right?"
"Hey!" The punch Ann put into Akira's arm was playful at best, which was something to be thankful for. Ann could hit incredibly hard when she was of a mood to. A few unfortunate experiences with the confusion status effect in the Metaverse had taught Akira that. Shiho was laughing already.
"I'm glad." Ann and Akira both calmed when Shiho's voice came through the call again, her smile as wide as could be. "I really was afraid Ann would be lonely when I left, but I can see she still has friends who'll keep her out of trouble."
The snort of laughter from the two in the Tokyo park was as undignified as it was genuine. Very.
"Out of trouble?" Ann said it with incredulity, "Shiho this guy's the biggest source of trouble you can imagine! You have no idea what he gets us all wrapped up in!"
"Oh really?" Shiho leaned in to her phone, the focus aligning to her eyes, "Tell me a story?"
"Uh," Ann's expression quickly turned guilty, Akira's own far more neutral. The two couldn't exactly turn to face each other, but a quick flick of their eyes made eye contact all the same, a rapid conversation exchanged between them in that moment alone.
Ann what the hell?
I'm sorry it just came out!
Throw her off the trail!
How?
The intense and instantaneous conversation was derailed, however, by another round of laughter from Shiho, the girl leaning back from the phone. Her smile was the same as always, truly happy. Neither Akira nor Ann could help but smile at the sight.
"It's fine," she waved a hand, "I'm visiting for Golden Week, you can tell me the full story then."
"You're visiting!?" Ann had leapt to her feet, pulling the phone away from where it could see her and Akira both, completely ignoring the second half of Shiho's statement. Still sitting down, Akira took a small bite of his crepe. The tartness of lemon really helped it, in his opinion.
"Yes I'm visiting!" Shiho laughed at Ann's delight, "I've been wanting to for ages! You know I've missed you, Ann."
"I've missed you too." The genuineness of Ann's reply was heart-warming, yet also at the same time a little awkward for Akira. Ann had invited him to this, apparently intent on spending the afternoon with two of her dearest friends, but Akira knew full well that the depth of care Ann and Shiho had for each other eclipsed anything else. He really did feel like a bit of a third wheel here.
"But still," there was enough force in Shiho's next words to get Ann to calm down, remembering to sit back down so she could help her phone up to show her and Akira both, "you're going to tell me. You think I couldn't recognise you two from that video? Of course I could!"
Akira's poker face really did nothing for him here, given that Ann sitting right next to him presently looked as if all the blood had drained from her own. She stammered slightly, eyes wide and mouth open. Akira sighed, and shook his head, before looking into the phone's camera directly. "Yeah," Shiho smiled deeply at this response, "we'll give you the full story."
Ann, not yet flabbergasted enough by this situation to miss the implication, turned to Akira with lights in her eyes. "We?" She stressed the word, hoping for Akira to confirm what he'd just said. Akira smiled and nodded himself.
"Of course I'm coming back to Tokyo for Golden Week. Nothing in the world's going to stop me from that."
"Yes!" Ann was once more on her feet, arms raised in the air and Shiho given a sideways view of Inokashira Park. She and Akira each took a bite from their crepes unwitting of the other. Ann's celebration continued. "You'll both be back here for Golden Week!" She was almost dancing where she stood, so thrilled with this announcement. "I can't wait I can't wait!"
"Ann," Shiho's voice came through the phone once more, reminding Ann that they were on a video call. Ann turned the phone back to face the pair.
In the end, the majority of the conversation was driven by Ann. She told Shiho about her modelling, and about Mika's escapades. She told her about the past few weeks, and the times she'd spent with her friends. The good food she'd had. The movies and shows and games she'd experienced. And about how happy everyone was that Akira had been set free.
Akira himself didn't remark much on it, but did find himself unable to help but smile when Shiho told him she'd been waiting for the good news ever since she first heard about it. He'd only ever spoken to Shiho once without Ann around, the two of them were acquaintances at best, but somehow via Ann they each found themselves feeling like close friends to the other. The depth of care for the one between them forging a bond far beyond their friendship alone.
When the topic strayed to Akira's planned return to his family home, just one month away, Shiho nodded with understanding. Despite how close, ultimately, the Prefecture she'd moved to was to Tokyo, the nature of everyday life meant visits really only could be achieved with the assistance of holidays. For Akira, who was heading even further away from the city, it would be even harder for him. It wasn't fair, each agreed, while also understanding that there really was no better option. Ann was silent for this, both out of respect for Shiho and Akira's understanding of each other in this moment, and also a quiet joy that her best friend was bonding with one of her closest friends. Golden Week was going to be incredible. She believed that with all her heart.
Alas for all, the conversation could not last forever. The demands of school life were still upon the trio, and so by the time the two crepes were done – Ann fighting off cravings for one of her own – it was time for the call to come to a close. But Golden Week was close enough, Ann reiterated, and they were all going to spend time together then. Or else. Akira and Shiho both had laughed at her declaration. A victory as far as she was concerned.
Yet when the call was closed, when it was quiet in the wooded park and only two remained, Akira was quick to observe the melancholy on Ann's face all the same. She'd always worn her heart on her sleeve, after all.
"You miss her."
"Of course I do."
It was a challenge to imagine. The hometown Akira had left behind, he'd just been a quiet occupant of. Sure he'd had friends back in school, but nothing even close to the intensity he felt now for his fellows in Tokyo. And for Ann and Shiho, what they had was even more than that. Being separated from someone that important... it hurt Akira's heart enough to be leaving behind the others in a month's time.
It really was hard to imagine. But he understood all the same.
"Has she spoken about what she's doing after she graduates?"
"Not yet."
"She'll probably come back."
"Yeah."
"Just like me.
"... Yeah. Yeah!" Ann looked up, eyes brighter now, a smile forming on her face. "Just a year, right? Then we'll all be back together!" And Akira smiled too. Soon enough they'd all reunite. The rest of their lives still ahead.
For Akira, one year to determine what was left between him and his family. To decide if, when he returned to Tokyo, he'd ever have interest in seeking out his parents in free time again. They truly seemed to want that to be the case. Thinking about it just made his head hurt.
He'd decide for himself when the time came. One more year. Graduation.
And everyone would be together again. Just as they should be.
"I can't wait."
