39: Rainbow Girl

My fingers were trembling, so I stuffed them in my pockets and walked around the station. I used the restroom and made sure my hair was neatly combed (no headphone dent "gamer hair" today!). After making sure the collar of my dress shirt was in place, I went back out to the station entrance and took out my phone, checking my messages. I read our conversation last night:

Setsuna: hi derrick sorry about what I did to you on Monday :0 Please forgive me… :frown:

Me: haha no don't worry about it! It felt good anyway :wink:

Setsuna: um…..okay

Me: sorry

Setsuna: anyway, I was wondering if you were free tomorrow… it's Saturday

Me: yep! Do you want to do something?!

Setsuna: yeah! You wanted to go to Akiba again, right? I want to too :)

Me: Sure! I won't be a party pooper this time though

Setsuna: you better! I'm gonna be filming you for our final project too! We didn't get to get much footage last time

Me: Oh yeah haha ok

Setsuna: Yay! Let's meet up at the station, is 8 good for you?

Me: Seriously? What about 9…

Setsuna: Fine… well, I'll see u tomorrow! Get more sleep!

Me: Okay. Good night :)

AHHHHHHHHHH I'm so nervous! I shoved my phone back into my pocket and looked up.

"M-morning, senpai…"

Setsuna had just arrived, and she stopped inches from me. She was wearing a blue blouse and a soft pink cardigan, as well as a high-fitting, short white flared skirt adorned with golden buttons. Her hair was long and flowing, a pink headband framing her dark bangs. Her little heart-shaped earrings reflected the morning sun, and her cheeks were flushed with nervousness and joy.

I was paralyzed by her beauty for a moment before I could open my mouth.

"I… I'm not your senpai anymore, remember?" I chuckled. "I haven't graduated yet, but for the rest of you, you already moved up a grade, remember? We're both third years!"

"That's only for a couple months! It doesn't count! SENPAI!" Setsuna lightly punched my arm, through which I caught a scent of perfume.

"Okay, whatever you say!" I patted her on the head and turned to the train platform.

"Senpai! D-did I say you could touch my head?" Setsuna questioned, catching up.

"Hmm? Oh… haha, it's a habit I have when hanging out with Yu…"

"Haha, I'm joking… I mean, I touched you in a much more private part anyway…" Setsuna patted me on the head. "But you guys are so close, it's really cute!"

"Yeah… Yu-chan is really cute. I mean… I was super into Ayumu at the beginning, but… after hanging out with Yu-chan for so long, she kinda rubbed off on me… she was a tsundere type at the start! But now I just want to grab her and swing her around every time I see her! Hahah!" I laughed.

"Yeah me too!" Setsuna's eyes were jovial. "So what about me? Was I a tsundere?"

"What!? No! How are you a tsundere?"

"Then what am I? If Ayumu's your super pure- I mean, or so you thought, haha- shy girl, Yu's the tsundere, then what am I?" Setsuna asked as the train arrived. We got in and jammed into each other.

"Sorry," I apologized, as I bumped my chest into hers. We were facing each other as we stood, and we were so close that I had to stretch my back completely straight so we wouldn't touch.

"I- it's okay…" Setsuna found it hard to keep looking into my eyes, so she cast them downwards, towards my chest.

"Anyway…" I lowered my voice to avoid bothering the surrounding commuters. "I guess… you were that nerdy student council president? I mean, you are…"

"I- I guess…"

"But of course, you have another side to you, just like Ayumu and Yu do! Like, when I first joined the club, I could have never imagined you would be such a fun-loving otaku with the same interests as me! And you're such a great singer! And you always cheer me up when I'm down." As I said that last line, I felt my ears burn up.

"Oh… heh heh…" Setsuna managed a small smile.

As the train made a stop, we lurched forward, and I bumped into Setsuna again.

"Aghh! Sorry!" I backed up once more, but this time, Setsuna stepped forward of her own accord, pressing her body into mine.

"Mmm. You don't have to apologize." Setsuna's voice was muffled as her face was pressed into my shoulder. I broke into a sweat as I felt her against me, hearts thumping in unison.

We spent the rest of the ride like that, pressed against each other, both of us too anxious to say another word.

We finally emerged out into Akiba Station, and the hustle of the crowd immediately surrounded us, a sense of excitement and imagination in the air.

It felt like I was holding my breath that whole time, so I took a deep one, gathering all the courage I had to maintain a confident composure. Confidence, right? Remember what Emma said?

"Ahhh, this place is so cool!" I remarked. "I wish I could come here more!"

"Right? But it's way more fun when I come with friends," Setsuna said. "Usually, I just come alone…"

"I can relate! Except for that time we came together, I just came solo… once was when I just arrived in Japan, before I signed up for Nijisaki, and the other time when I was so depressed after beating up that Kenta guy and ruining my relationship with Yu, I just came and splurged my money…" I remembered those distinct memories.

"Well, it's in both of our interests to come here together, then!" Setsuna pulled me by the hand. "Come! Let's go have some fun!"

"Hey everyone! As you can see here, Derrick-senpai is fawning at the exquisite collection of anime waifu figurines!" Setsuna narrated, filming me with her phone as I charged into the merchandise store, peering through the diverse collection of figurines, big and small.

"B-bruh! Why are you filming this part?!" I said to her, blocking my face with a big-breasted figurine.

"Because that's what this vlog is about!" Setsuna laughed aloud, pushing the figurine out of my face. "So what do you think? Anything you wanna buy!?"

"Well, yeah, OFF camera," I said, placing my hand on the lens.

"Cut! That was a great one!" Setsuna said, stopping the recording. "We're definitely using that clip!"

"What!? Since when was that part of the script?"

"There is no script! It's fine! Just be yourself." Setsuna picked a figurine off the shelf. "Hey! This one is Riko beach edition! It's so expensive though…"

"Yeah, I don't think I want a figurine of my brother's wife," I replied, rolling my eyes. "I don't think he'll appreciate that."

"Hahah! You should get a figurine of me then! Too bad I'm not popular enough for my own figurines…" Setsuna turned sad for a moment.

"S-stop! I don't care if you're not popular! Besides, I don't need a figurine if I have the real you!" I protested, putting a hand on her back.

"Haha, there you go again with the sweet talk! I'm fine! Hey, but did you know? There actually was merchandise made for the Nijisaki club a while back, before you came! They made a line of plushies and stuff when we were preparing for the School Idol Festival back then. But they're pretty much all gone now… we were just a small thing that came and went. But that's fine. I guess." Setsuna put the Riko figure down and wandered off to another section of the store.

After I collected the goods I wanted, I went over to find her. I spotted her squatting in an aisle, examining a ton of husbando figures.

Not wanting to alarm her, I pulled out my phone and began to film her.

"Alright everyone, now, this is Setsuna-chan in her natural habitat! Our Student Council President, to be exact! Watch as she examines the muscle shape of the figure she holds in her hand- will she make the purchase? Is it worth it, or not?!" I commented, zooming the camera in and out. Setsuna, dumbfounded and embarrassed, grew beet red and placed the figure back on the shelf, running over to me and blocking the camera.

"S-s-s-s-stop! That's so embarrassing! No, of course I'm not gonna buy it! Now everyone's gonna know what the president is actually like!" Setsuna squealed.

"Okay, cut!" I laughed, stopping the recording. "That was perfect! We're definitely using this one in our project!"

"Wh-what!? But everyone will find out that I'm an otaku!"

"But you are? Just be yourself." I raised my eyebrow, thinking that I had made a perfect comeback by repeating her exact words.

Realizing that she had been outplayed, Setsuna sighed and pouted.

"Fine."

I ruffled her head and swung my bag around my shoulder.

"You're not gonna buy anything, right? Then let's get moving!"

"W-wait! I do want to buy stuff!" Setsuna protested, quickly snatching the figure off the shelf.

"Ahhh! I'm hungry!" Setsuna said, skipping along as we walked along the street.

"Wanna go to the maid cafe?" I suggested.

"A different one, maybe?"

"Well… the one we went to last time was really good… can we go there again?" I chuckled.

"Oh, okay, then! I'm fine with that! It's my favorite one anyway."

"What was it called again?"

"Rainbow Girls! That omurice was good, right?!"

"Yeah! Let's get some!"

We found our way to Rainbow Girls, and ended up sitting at the same table for two we had sat at the first time we came.

"Welcome! Oh! It's- it's Setsuna-sama, right?!" the maid said, perking up as she brought us our menus.

"Y-yeah!" Setsuna was shocked. "Y-you know me?" She pointed at her nose.

"Mm-hm! You got second place at Love Live! I was there!" the maid turned to me. "And you're…"

"Derrick."

"Derrick! You were pretty good at the guitar! Your two partners were also really cute. I wish I could join an idol group like you guys… it must be so fun! But here I am trying to pay for my college tuition…" the maid frowned.

"Well, I'm so glad you recognize us," Setsuna said, on the verge of tears. She grabbed the maid's hands. "Thank you so much…"

"Yeah! I was rooting for you guys! I was so mad that you didn't win! Especially you, Setsuna! You just- took my breath away! Your singing was so powerful, and I felt like I was flying! And to be honest, I was feeling really bad that day. I kinda bombed my test, and when I heard your voice, all of my worries just melted away! I felt that I could stand up and try again. My friends say that I'm so immature for being into something like Love Live, but they'll never understand. They don't know what it feels like to experience that power. I could even say that Love Live saved my life." The maid was also on the brink of tears, and Setsuna gave her a massive hug.

"Ohhhh! I'm so happy!" Setsuna wiped her eyes. "It's always been my dream to touch peoples' hearts! To make the world smile. Hearing you say that makes me feel one step closer to my dream!"

"Yeah! I'll continue to support you, whatever happens, Setsuna-sama! Ah sorry, I got carried away! What would you like to eat?"

I rubbed my eyes, which were somehow watery as well, after watching the whole scene. I noticed the eyes of all the other people in the cafe on us.

"Can we share an omurice please? And a melon soda."

"Okay, sure thing! Wow, you didn't even look at the menu…" the maid replied.

"Well, I came here once before! It was so good I'm getting the same thing."

"Oh! That's great. Just one though? Wait… are you two…" the maid looked between Setsuna and I.

"What?! We're just clubmates! We came to discuss… stuff…" Setsuna denied.

"Heh…" I grinned.

"Okay! That means Setsuna is still available! Teehee!" The maid ran off to report our order.

We had an amazing time, discussing anime and idols, eating to our hearts' content.

When we came down to the last bit of omurice, I handed her the fork.

"Here, you can have the last bite."

Setsuna picked it up, but held the morsel up to me.

"Ahhhhh…" she said, leaning over the table.

I received the fork and gulped it down. It tasted better than all the other bites combined.

When we were finished, the maid came to say goodbye.

"Can we take a picture?" Setsuna asked.

"That'll be an extra five hundred yen," the maid replied, laughing. "I'm sorry… I don't wanna get scolded by the manager…"

"Okay," I said, handing her the cash.

We got a little Polaroid picture of the three of us, with Setsuna in the middle.

"Alright, we'll see you some other time!" I said, waving.

"Please come again! I'll be waiting for your next performance!" The maid bowed, and we left the cafe.

"Ahhhh, someone actually recognized us!" Setsuna exclaimed happily, hugging me.

"Yep! See? You're not a failure. More people care about you than you know," I said, returning the embrace.

"W-wait!" the maid came rushing out after us. "Can I have your signatures!?" She held out a little diary and a pink pen.

"S-sure!" Setsuna replied, signing a blank page.

I stood there, thinking that she only wanted Setsuna's, but she gave the stationery to me too.

"You too, Derrick-sama!"

I signed my basic signature, which I only used for those random forms for school. Hah, who knew I would become an idol?

"N- noooooooo!" Setsuna scowled, as I beat her at a fighting game for the tenth time.

"Wow, you're even worse than Ayumu," I said, remembering the time when I played Smash with Yu and Ayumu during our sleepover.

"Aghhhhh! That's not true! I always win when I play Ayumu! I can't beat Yu though…" Setsuna stood up. "Let's see how you do at the dancing game then!"

We were inside a large arcade, filled with the noises of gamers and electronic sounds.

"Alright! Let's see!" we went over to one of the dancing games, and began to battle.

I collapsed to the floor after my twentieth defeat.

"You just got destroyed! Hah!" Setsuna teased, hands on her hips.

"Yeah, I admit that," I said, fanning myself. "That was a workout."

"That's what you get for sitting there and staring at us every day at practice, instead of training!"

"What? You were the one who didn't want a guy to dance with you guys!"

"I'm just kidding!" Setsuna pulled me to my feet. "Let's go sit down and cool off, okay?"

We sat down on a bench as I caught my breath.

"You good?" Setsuna asked, looking over at me.

"Mm."

As we sat, breathing hard, I felt the tips of our fingers touch.

"Ss-ss-ssenpais?" a shrill, timid voice interrupted us.

We looked up to see Rina, who quickly ducked behind her Rina board.

"Rina-chan!?" We said in unison.

"Ssorryyyyyy! I'm interrupting your date!" Rina tried to run, but Setsuna stopped her.

"Rina-chan! This isn't a date! We're just hanging out! Also, why are you here at Akiba?" Setsuna asked, pulling Rina back to the bench.

Rina sat down, scooting as far away from me as she could.

"I come here to play games a lot."

"Oh, really? We can come together sometime!" Setsuna said warmly.

"R-really?" Rina replied shyly.

"Yeah, of course! Derrick can come as well, he loves this place!"

"What? I don't want him to come though…" Rina cowered away from me.

"Hey! Derrick isn't that scary," Setsuna comforted, prying Rina away from her and positioning her so that she had to look at me.

"Hi Rina-chan…" I said awkwardly.

Rina pouted and turned away.

"Come on! You literally haven't said a word to him after all this time… he'll be sad if you don't say anything before he has to go back home," Setsuna urged.

After ten minutes of trying to convince Rina to talk to me, Setsuna gave up.

"Well, I guess you don't have to," she said, as Rina stood up to leave.

"Bye, Rina!" I called out. Before Rina left, she turned around and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"GO GET HER, DERRICK-SENPAI! RAWRRRR!"

Rina grinned the biggest grin I had ever seen, winked, gave me a double thumbs up, and skipped away.

"O-oh…" Setsuna stood there awkwardly, looking around at everything but me. "D-do you want to try one of the claw games?"

Dumbfounded by hearing Rina scream that loud, especially the contents of that scream, I nodded and followed.

Trying to ignore Rina's words, we spent the next hour trying to salvage anything from the claw machines.

"Gosh, there's a lot of waifu plushies," Setsuna remarked, flailing to pick up a Mari plushy for the tenth time.

"Wait look!" I exclaimed, pointing to a lone plushy out of place.

"W-WHAT!?"

It was a Setsuna plushy.

"It's a you plushy!" I screamed, touching the glass. "It's a Setsuna plushy!"

"Ohh! That's one of the merchandise items that they made for me before! I guess no one wants it anymore, so they just threw it in here…"

"I want it so bad!" I splurged a fortune trying to retrieve the little thing, to no avail.

"It's fine, it's fine," Setsuna said. "You're spending too much money!"

"But I really want it!" I tried once more.

"You don't need it! You have the real me, right!?" Setsuna said, holding my hand to prevent me from inserting more cash into the machine.

"...but it's so cute…" I stared at the lifeless doll, which stared back with blank eyes.

"...really?" Setsuna eyed the thing. "It looks kinda derpy…"

"How could you say that about yourself?!"

"Well, I am pretty derpy, wouldn't you say?" Setsuna laughed. "Anyway, let's go before your wallet runs dry, okay? Come on. We'll come back next time."

"Aghhh… fine…" I gave up, and we left the grinning plushy where it lay.

Our ramen dinners arrived, and I took a deep whiff of the delicious broth before I dug in.

"Wait Don't touch it yet!" Setsuna said, grabbing my wrist. "Picture!" She took out her phone and opened the camera.

"Oh! Vlog!"

"Oh yeah! Okay, I'm recording! Hey y'all! We're eating ramen for dinner tonight, and senpai is hungry! Take a sip! Is it tasty?"

I blew across my spoon and took a sip.

"It's amazing!" I remarked, giving her a thumbs up.

"Is it better than what you had before?"

"Hmmm… it's great, but I think the best ramen I had was at this little stand I went to with Yu-chan."

"Oh! Yeah, that's the best. Hahah! Well, let's go next time! Okay cut!"

We laughed at the stupidity of what we had just done, and I picked up my chopstick to dig in.

"WAITTT! The picture?" Setsuna flipped her phone camera and held it in front of us.

I leaned in to her, and she snapped the pic.

"Okay. Now you can eat, okay? Sorry." Setsuna grinned, and checked out the picture she had just taken as I began scarfing down the noodles.

"Hey… Setsuna-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"I know you said that you wanted to be a world famous idol, but… didn't your parents say something about you taking over your dad's business? And aren't they anime haters?" I felt that I had said too much after I said it.

Setsuna looked at me with a sad face.

"Well, what can I do? Yep, I'm gonna take over my dad's business. There's no reason for me not to, logically. So I will." Setsuna took a sip and munched some noodles.

"But… your dream…."

Setsuna sighed.

"It'll work out, somehow. Somehow. You know, i might be super busy, but I'll do both at the same time! I don't need leisure time. Singing is leisure time, even if it's considered work!" Setsuna laughed. I didn't want to prod any further into this matter, so I decided to back out.

"Speaking of singing, do you wanna go do karaoke after this?" I asked.

"Really? Sure!"

"HAI! HAI! HAI!" I chanted, pumping my fists in the air as Setsuna twirled around the karaoke room, singing "Mirai no Bokura wa Shitteruyo" with a silly smile.

I mean, I can't sing, so that's the best I can do. Haha!

"Let's go again!" Setsuna squealed, jumping up and down after the song had finished.

"Sure thing!" I hit up the song again, and we became the best idol and fan duo you had ever seen.

"Now, THAT's a workout," Setsuna said, plopping down next to me after a breathtaking set of songs.

"I could listen to your voice all night," I remarked, putting an arm around her.

"D-d-don't say it like that," she replied, blushing.

"Well, you satisfied? Ready to go home?"

"One more song, okay?" Setsuna said, standing back up.

"Okay, okay."

The final song began to play, its entrancing piano intro leading into a symphony of guitars and synth sounds.

"Try and be brave, I know it's terrifying- i couldn't do it at the start either

I messed up a lot, and I was really frustrated- but that gave me strength, so don't give up

I recognized the song as "Yuuki wa doko ni? Kimi no Mune ni!" by Aqours.

"I know this song!" I said, standing up.

"Of course you do," Setsuna replied, grinning as the music continued.

"Let's chase them as many times as it takes, we won't lose!

Everyone fails sometimes, but our dreams won't fade, they won't fade!

Because after all, today is today, and once you wake up, it'll be a new morning

I felt the goosebumps rise on my skin. Didn't my brother listen to this song when he was at Uchiura? I wonder if he felt the same way, the same feeling it created in my heart.

Eww, why am I thinking about my brother?

When Setsuna finished the song, I clapped my hands wildly, and I couldn't help but leap forward and grab her in my arms.

"That was so good, Setsuna! You're gonna make me cry!" I shouted.

"Kyaaa! Calm down, senpai!" Setsuna replied, but didn't attempt to pry me off. "But thank you." She put her arms around me in return, and we stood there in warm silence.

"...we should get going now," Setsuna whispered.

"Yeah."

The two of us departed into the night, swinging our bags of merchandise and singing Aqours' songs.

"Today was the best day ever," Setsuna said, as we walked under the neon lights of Akiba.

"It sure was." I was so tired, but I didn't want to go home.

We got onto the train, and sat together on one of the seats. As the train zoomed across the city, I felt the warmth of the girl next to me. It was a strange feeling.

It felt as if I was in a dream.

Am I?

Setsuna's home station was approaching, so I sat up straight in my seat. Setsuna wasn't asleep, contrary to what I had believed. She lifted her head off my shoulder and smiled tiredly.

"It's almost time to say goodbye," she whispered, gathering her bags.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," I responded. I don't know why, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

"Senpai!?" Setsuna exclaimed, blushing as her cheek touched mine. I wanted to hold her forever, to feel her hair, her heartbeat.

"Setsuna-chan… just let me stay like this a little longer."

I held her for what felt like an eternity.

And within an instant, the eternity was over.

The train ground to a halt, and the doors slid open.

I released my hold on the girl beside me, and she rose to her feet.

"Good night, senpai."

Setsuna leaned down and lightly brushed her lips against my cheek.

She turned and left.

I put my fingers to my face, and my heart was beating faster than it ever had.

Am I in love?