"Hm? Honey, you don't look too good, are you alright? Something on your mind?"
"...huh? Oh, don't worry about it, it's nothing..."
Riko sighs in a defeated manner, things just weren't going her way today.
Riko's mother, still very worried about how her daughter was acting, insisted. "You're normally smiling so much more often in the morning... oh! Weren't you gonna meet up with Chika today?"
Riko frowns even more at the sound of Chika's name coming out of her mother's mouth, making her even more sure that something wasn't right.
"Yeah... last minute change of plans happened and she ended up going somewhere with You-chan instead... since she'll be going with her dad somewhere soon for a long period of time, I think..."
"Oh, that's what this is about..." Riko's mother reassuringly grabs the shoulder of her still disappointed daughter, and suddenly gets an idea to try and cheer her up. "Hey, do you know if Yoshiko-chan is available today? Maybe hanging out with her will make you feel better!"
Riko looks over at her mother, slightly puzzled. "Yocchan...? Hmmm, I don't think she's busy today, I'm not sure if she's having a livestream or not, but I suppose I could try calling her..."
Riko's mother smiles at her idea giving a spark of hope for Riko's day, while handing over a bag to her daughter and going to her bedroom afterwards. "There's some food for you and Yoshiko-chan if you two decide to stay out for a while! Have fun!"
"Thanks mom!" Riko smiles, slightly forcing it, and then looks at the bag, while slowly going out and taking out her phone.
"Yocchan, huh... well, I suppose there's never a dull moment with her, so this might make up for the fact that Chika-chan didn't want to hang out today... I hope I'm not bothering Yocchan or anything though..." Riko slightly pouts at thinking about both being left by Chika and the possibility of interrupting Yoshiko's stream, although after some time, she shakes her bad thoughts away and decides to call Yoshiko.
Yoshiko was laying down on her bed, a little bored. She wasn't sure on what to do, so she was just thinking about the things she could do for the day. For a change of pace, she didn't have anything planned for the day. And it was a Friday too.
The two main ideas in her head were either making a surprise stream for her little demons or calling Ruby to see if her and Hanamaru were busy and ask if they wanted to hang out.
Suddenly, her thoughts are interrupted by her phone ringing on her hand. She checks her phone and sees that "Elite Little Demon Riri" was calling her. Without hesitance, she sat up on her bed, doing her fallen angel pose (even though no one could see it), and answered the phone.
"Riri! As expected of my top class little demon, you have the most perfect timing imaginable!"
"O-oh? Was there something you needed of me?" Riko replied, shocked and unprepared at how eager Yoshiko seemed immediately.
"Why yes, of course! You shall meet me at the entrance of my domain as soon as you possibly can! Then we shall discuss future details, understood?!" Yoshiko followed with her signature chuckle. Unbeknownst to Riko, the fallen angel actually had nothing planned but was hoping this would buy her enough time to think up of something.
"O-of course, Yocchan! I'll be going now then, I should take around 15 minutes. See you then!" Riko replied, with a bit more happiness in her voice than before, hanging up after hearing the predictable "It's Yohane!" through her pink phone and giggling to herself.
As soon as the call ended, Yoshiko dropped her phone and got up in a hurry, putting both of her hands on her head, looking around. "This is bad... Riri probably thinks I have something really well planned! Quick, Yohane, use your magnificent brain... you have to make this the best Friday that your elite little demon deserves!"
She immediately got on her chair and searched up on her computer "best places to take someone out". She blushed a little at how she worded but she did find one idea that interested her. "Hmmmm... this seems more like a place where Yohane would be than Riri, however, I'm sure she'll still have a blast! It's settled then!", she triumphantly announced to herself.
On Riko's side, she was just happily walking through the streets over to where Yoshiko lives, really curious on what the fallen angel could've planned. Still, she was pretty amused at how excited Yoshiko seemed, so excited that Riko barely got to say anything, she didn't even mention the bag of food she had for both of them.
After a few minutes, Riko had arrived at her destination. She walked over to Yoshiko, who, when immediately glancing at her little demon, returned to her fallen angel pose with her eyes closed.
"Kukuku... Riri! I expected no one other than my elite little demon's presence. Oh, wait... what's that bag you got there with you?" Yohane snapped out of her persona for a bit and looked intrigued at the bag.
"Oh! I told my mother I was going out with you, so she made us something to eat while we went out! I was gonna tell you through the phone, but... you seemed really excited on going already..." Riko chuckled to herself when she got reminded of how prepared Yoshiko always was when it came to acting like herself. "Speaking of which, where are we going?"
"Oh, I see, we shall make a quick break in between our date to satisfy our hunger then! For now, let us go into the deepest parts of this city to find the place we shall reside in for the next foreseeable hours... the arcade!" she shouted, proud of herself as always when she makes a big scene.
"...Y-Yocchan, do you know where the arcade is?", Riko asked, quizzically looking at the proud fallen angel.
Yoshiko's voice cracks for a second, then she clears her throat and replies. "W-well, we shall figure it out together! Now, onwards!"
"It's... not that far away. It's about a 20 minute walk from here."
"...Oh." Yohane blushes at how she thought it was gonna be really far away, but alas, she forgot since the last few times they went to a different one instead.
"Y-you're right! As expected of my little demon, Riri... shall we start our trip?" Yoshiko asks, lending her hand slowly towards a slightly paralyzed Riko.
"...eh?" Riko was wondering why Yoshiko extended her hand towards her. She was still processing the possibility that her fallen angel actually wanted to hold her hand while they walked to the arcade together.
Oh... sorry... let's start going no-", said Yoshiko, a little dejected but interrupted by her red-haired little demon suddenly taking a hold of her hand with both of her hands before she could withdraw hers.
A moment of silence between the two started.
Yoshiko blushed a little as Riko was startled and taken aback by her own action, still hanging on to Yoshiko's hand with her own.
"...L-let's go then...", Riko said, walking to Yohane's side and waiting for her to start walking too. Yoshiko smiled at Riko and blushed a little more before she started walking with her elite little demon, hand in hand.
For most of the walk, they were silent, broken by the occasional Yohane chuckle or Yohane trying to break the ice a bit with her little demon, getting a bit of small talk between the two, until they finally arrive at the entrance of the arcade.
"And at last, we have arri-...Riri, we're here already, why are you still holding onto my hand so tightly?", the dark haired fallen angel asked her little demon once she tried to pull her hand up for her signature fallen angel pose but still felt Riko's hand tightly holding it.
"O-oh! I'm so sorry, Yocchan... I didn't even realize we were here already..." Riko looked away, blushing, clearly still tense and flustered at the fact she held Yoshiko's hand for that long.
"Riri, try to relax a bit. We're here to have fun, after all! And, as the fallen angel, it is my duty since I have fallen from hell to bring all my little demons the biggest happiness they could ever achieve!" Yohane then points upwards while closing her eyes, still being able to tell that it was enough to make Riko crack a smile and chuckle a little bit.
"W-well, let's go in! Since you did have the idea of the arcade already, I'll take the lead on what we should play! ...if that's alright with you?" Riko looks back at Yoshiko for reassurance.
Yoshiko grins at Riko's sudden excitement, while thinking of how proud of herself she was for making Riri so less tense in so little time. "Kukuku... that is why I call you my elite little demon! Let us go forth, Riri!"
Before Yoshiko could even speak when they enter, she looks to her side and sees Riko immediately running towards something. Riko has her face plastered against the glass of a crane machine in mere seconds after her entrance.
"T-that dog is so cute... I wanna get it!" Riko excitedly points to the dog plushie in the machine, right before getting a penny for the machine.
"I believe in you, Riri! With your fallen angel by your side, there's no doubt in my mind that you'll be able to get Cerberus, the dog from He-"
"Ah... I got... an elephant?"
"...t-the machine must be rigged, you'd never miss it with the fallen angel's charm by your side." Yohane adds, while crossing her arms and slightly pouting at Riko's failed attempt at the crane game. However, Riko was lost in thought while looking at the elephant. "...l-little demon?"
"...now that I look at it closer... I kind of love it... maybe it's even better that I ended up getting this one!" Riko smiles at Yoshiko with her purest smile, making Yoshiko's fallen angel heart skip a beat and her pout disappear completely from the blessed sight.
Yohane looked around for a distraction or another game to play, to calm her beating heart down a little. "Ah, Riri, you said you were good at rhythm games, correct?"
"Huh? Yeah, you saw me play one last time all of Aqours went to an arcade, why?" Riko asked, waiting for Yoshiko to point excitedly and slightly predictably at a rhythm game nearby.
"Well, you'll be surprised that I have been training in all layers of hell to have become famous in the underworld as the best rhythm game player around! Let us duel in that game over there! I play, then you play, whoever gets the highest score wins!" Yohane grins from ear to ear at Riko, feeling cocky from her training, as she knew it would pay off.
"That's an amusing challenge... it'll be a big deal if your elite little demon beats you at the one thing you've been getting popular about, I shall accept this challenge!" Riko points at Yoshiko, feeling her competitive fire reignite inside her immediately once her confidence rose at the thought of a rhythm game.
Yoshiko blushes a little at the sight of her red haired little demon so fired up, but, at the same time, this is exactly what she wanted. What she didn't predict, however, was the outcome of the duel.
"H-how could I have been defeated... after all that training..." Yoshiko falls to the ground gracefully while her hand is still in her fallen angel pose after seeing Riko's score be much higher than her own.
"Hah! It was all a matter of time until this inevitable result, Yohane!" Riko, fully embracing her role as a little demon, crosses her arms while looking down at her fallen angel.
"Tch... you might've won the battle, but I'll come out victorious in the war!", she shouts as she gets up and looks away from Riko and keeps her hand in the same pose.
They stop for a moment, slightly tired from the game, their breathings almost matching up rhythmically, while looking at each other, breaking the silence soon afterwards when they both giggle to themselves.
"You got much better than last time, Yocchan! In no time, I'm sure you'll be able to beat me."
"I'll keep training harder for that day to come sooner than later, my little demon... Ah! I know you won't beat me in this one though!" Yoshiko points excitedly to a first person shooter game for two players near them.
"I haven't played an FPS game in so long, that's definitely more of your type of game... I might need a bit of help with the controls at first, but maybe I have a small chance of victory here!", Riko said, her competitive mood still being active from the adrenaline rush from their last match, but still not 100% confident she could beat Yohane.
After Yoshiko gently helped Riko at the beginning with the controls, the match was decided almost at the beginning. Yoshiko won with a staggering lead in points compared to Riko's.
"Ah... I should really start practicing these types of games more on my free time to beat you some day...", Riko sighs and pouts a little, meanwhile her pout didn't stay there for long while she looked at the proud fallen angel by her side.
"Kukuku, an inevitable victory on the fallen angel Yohane's side! This clearly means a streak shall start!", Yohane grinned as her pride grew and as she kept looking at her own score, not noticing the now smiling Riko just enraptured in Yoshiko's happiness for a good while.
They spent the rest of the day in the arcade, spending the whole time together, playing games until they eventually got tired and noticed that it already evening. Even if they both wanted to keep competing, they both eventually agreed to call it a tie for the day and sit down at a park bench outside, it was the perfect place to refreshingly eat after such a perfect date.
"Hard boiled egg sandwiches, huh? You and your mother really are alike, Riri..." Yoshiko comments before she takes a soft bite while looking around at the nice, soothing scenery.
"Yeah, I did start loving them because of her...", she added while eating and thinking about how much fun they had together today.
"We really spent the whole day in there, huh? And I thought today was just gonna be a normal, run-of-the-mill day...", Yohane says while she put her arms behind her head, relaxed.
"D-did I really make today that special of a day for you, Yocchan?", Riko asked hesitantly, quietly and secretly hoping for a positive answer to her question.
"Of course, Riri! You are my most elite little demon, spending all day with you is but one of the biggest blessings in this mortal realm! We should do this again sometime soon, actually.", Yohane smiles at her Riri, before noticing how red she was after her previous speech.
"Y-yeah, I'm... glad you feel the same way, Yocchan.", the slightly flustered red haired girl said to her fallen angel, really happy that their feelings were mutual.
"Hey, now that I think about it... it's a Monday, right? Did you not have anything planned for today, Riri? I kind of talked immediately once you called me...", Yoshiko keeps her arms behind her head while looking away, feeling a little bad that she talked over Riko earlier in the day.
"Oh, I had some plans with Chika-chan, but she went and did something with You-chan instead... what about you?", Riko asked, very curious since she always thought Yoshiko was always busy with something.
"Well, today wasn't a stream day and I don't think Zuramaru or Ruby were available, so I wasn't really doing anything, I was surprised when I saw a call from you though."
"You weren't doing anything, huh? Maybe I should've thought of calling you sooner...", Riko ponders, not for long before Yoshiko gets up and does her fallen angel pose epicly.
"Fear not! Next time we shall have a faithful encounter like this, I shall be the one taking the initiative for my favorite little demon, Riri!", Yohane says proudly while looking back at her blushing Riri, who also seems to be looking at the floor.
"...you dropped your sandwich, Yocchan."
"Oh. W-well, I ate most of it anyways, I'll go take it to the trash now...", Yohane blushes a bit while grabbing it, but before she can head over to deposit it, she hears Riko call out to her.
"...Thank you for this."
"...heh. Anytime, Riri."