Driving Around
Summary - Lanzhu, Shioriko, and Mia in a car. Mia thinks they're aimless. Lanzhu insists they're bonding. Shioriko's just along for the ride.
Ship: Friendship
As the clock struck 10 on this fine Saturday morning, a yawn escaped Mia's lips and the all-American idol wondered not for the first time that day just what Lanzhu was demanding of her this time. Brushing a few loose strands of hair out of her eyes, she reached a hand into a pocket to grab her phone, swiping open the text she'd received from the Hongkonger.
Lanzhu: cancel ur plans today. we hangin
It'd been sent over two hours ago, which was ungodly early by Mia's standards. Though to be fair, Mia considered anything before noon to be too early. Fortunately, Lanzhu had the presence of mind to account for that, as evidenced by the next message Mia received not five minutes ago.
Lanzhu: meet me on ur sidewalk
So here she was, waiting on the pavement with an earbud in, listening to her latest composition and taking mental notes on where it needed work while her eyes swept up and down the street for any sign of her friend.
The telltale rumble of an approaching vehicle caught her attention.
Eyes flicking over, Mia looked on impassively as a sleek red sports car pulled up to the curb before her. She raised an eyebrow as the driver's side window rolled down.
A familiar head of platinum pink poked out. "Get in the car, loser!" she exclaimed with a good-natured grin, "We're hanging out in style today!"
As she ducked into the backseat, Mia exchanged a greeting with Shioriko in the passenger seat before clicking her seatbelt and turning to address Lanzhu. "Where are we going?" she asked bluntly.
"The destination's not important," dismissed Lanzhu casually as she set off, pulling into traffic, "It's all about the journey."
"What. So you dragged us into your sketchy rich-girl car on another aimless whim?"
"Excuse me!" replied the pinkette, offended. "I invited you into my sleek, elegant, world-class Mifune Empress," ("I still can't believe my family's company custom-built this for you," muttered Shioriko) "For the extremely fulfilling purpose of bonding and spending time together as friends," declared Lanzhu. "My aim is, as it always has been, perfect!"
"Except when you decide to go back to Hong Kong and let us find out via text," retorted Mia dryly. "Great aim there."
"Sometimes my targets change," grumbled Lanzhu.
"I get that someone's gotta do it, but it's really not fun to be the only one sitting in the back," griped Mia as she haphazardly tossed her earphones onto the empty seat next to her.
"Yeah, maybe," agreed Lanzhu, "But I'm not playing chauffeur so you two can have all the fun." She paused as an idea came to her. "Though maybe if you ask nicely you can convince Shioriko to let you sit on her lap."
"I would not, as that is both reckless and unsafe," said Shioriko. "I already have concerns about your driving practices. I refuse to compound those concerns."
"Excuse me!" exclaimed the pinkette. "I've only had this car for a day! What have I done to make you think that?!"
Shioriko turned to her with a harsh glare. "You backed into my family's ancient hand-sculpted stone dragon statue as we left my house."
Lanzhu noticeably refused to look at the ravenette, her face flush with shame. "...I said I was sorry," she muttered.
"No you didn't!"
"So how did the two of you meet?" asked Shioriko as they drove down the highway.
"I spent a month in America, and we met at a high society soiree in the Empire State Building," answered Lanzhu. "Mia was performing."
"No I wasn't," corrected Mia, "I ducked out because I was bored and started playing piano in a different room. Lanzhu wandered by and heard me."
"I like to think you were performing for me personally," said Lanzhu cheekily, "Fate's audition to be my personal composer."
"I'd say I'm lucky to have been chosen, but no one else wanted to do it," retorted Mia.
"Love you too, Mia."
"What about you?" inquired the blonde, looking to Shioriko. "Lanzhu said you were childhood friends, but she's been away from Japan for a while, right?"
"Yes, that's true," she mused thoughtfully. "I suppose it all started when I met her on the playground of our elementary school. Lanzhu was attempting to lead some other children into climbing to a very high tree branch."
A soft smile crossed Lanzhu's face. "I remember that. None of the other kids wanted to join me. I tried to lead by example and climbed up first, but they ran away, saying I was too good for them."
Mia frowned. "They all abandoned you?"
"Well..." The childhood friends exchanged a knowing smile. "Not all of them."
"Anyone else hungry?" asked Lanzhu idly as she stopped for a traffic light. "I'm thinking of swinging through a drive thru somewhere. We can eat in the car."
"I could eat," shrugged Mia.
"As could I," agreed Shioriko. "But surely you're not proposing we eat while driving around."
Lanzhu laughed. "Shioriko, please. I'm not that reckless. Nah, I figure we just pull into a parking lot once we get our food."
"Ah. I'm sorry for doubting your common sense."
"Don't be! It's part of your charm," winked Lanzhu. "So? Which fast food joint are we hitting up? MakiDonalds? Nico Bell? Kotori Fried Chicken?"
"I've heard good things about Elibee," ventured Shioriko. "There's also a Pana Express two streets over."
"I'd rather not," replied Mia, wrinkling her nose. "Can't get a good burger at either of those places."
"Alright, MakiDonalds it is!" decided Lanzhu.
As they pulled into the drive-thru, the speaker crackled to life. "Welcome to MakiDonalds! May I take your order?"
From the backseat, Mia spoke up. "I'll have two number 9's, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45's, one with cheese, and a large soda."
Lanzhu and Shioriko turned to stare at her, the former with an expression of dry amusement, the latter with shock, concern, and a touch of horror.
The natural blonde met their gazes. "What? I'm still a growing girl!"
"...will there be anything else?" asked the speaker hesitantly.
"Just a number 5 for me," supplied Shioriko at Lanzhu's questioning glance.
The Hongkonger nodded. "Two number 5's please, and a deluxe strawberry smoothie."
As soon as the bags of food were in the car, Lanzhu pulled into the parking lot and divvied up the goods, handing bag after bag of burgers and fries back to Mia while she and Shioriko kept a single bag containing their own orders. The smoothie sat in the cup holder between them.
Shioriko unwrapped her burger and gazed at it with appreciation. It was a rare occurrence when she got to indulge in commercialized consumables, and the girl wanted to savor it. "Itadakimasu~" she murmured before chomping down.
The sound of a shutter going off interrupted her bite, and she looked up to see Lanzhu's phone pointed at her, the Hongkonger wearing a satisfied expression. Retreating from her sandwich, Shioriko frowned.
"Lanzhu. Did you really take a picture of me eating?"
"Yep!" admitted Lanzhu cheerfully.
The ravenette sighed. "Why?" she asked sufferingly.
Turning the phone around to show her, Lanzhu enlarged a section and pointed. "See this?" she asked, "You can totally see your fang."
"I know for a fact that you have multiple pictures of my fang, some of which I've sent you, and many others you've taken yourself. Why do you need another?"
The pinkette shrugged. "I wanted some inspiration for my next fangfic."
"Your... what?"
"Don't think too hard about it," giggled Lanzhu, putting her phone down. "Just think of me as the president of your own personal fang club."
"I'm starting to think you've been spending too much time with Ai-san."
"No, I'm pretty sure Rina's got the monopoly on that one," replied Lanzhu as she took out her own burger.
The rattling slurp of air through an empty straw interrupted their banter, and both girls shifted their gazes to Mia in the back, who leered at them impassively. Noting she had their attention, she stopped trying to drink the atmosphere. Both Lanzhu and Shioriko were mildly disturbed to notice that she was surrounded by crumpled up wrappers and empty cardboard cartons. Not a scrap of her order remained.
The natural blonde exhaled a sigh of satisfaction.
"Are you going to eat those?" she deadpanned, "Or just keep flirting without me?"
"No way she always wears a kimono at home," said Lanzhu as she drove them along the shore of Tokyo Bay. "That's gotta be the lie."
"Nuh uh!" disagreed Mia. "Sure it sounds annoying but she's probably gotten used to it. I say she doesn't actually volunteer at a daycare. Does Shioriko really look like the type to get along with children? She looks like she'd rather dropkick a kid than help one!"
"There's no way modern girls like us would ever wear traditional Asian dresses as casual wear," argued Lanzhu. "And Shioriko can be gentle when she wants to be. I'm sure the kids are happy enough."
"Actually," interrupted Shioriko, her voice somehow drier than usual, "Both of those statements are true. The lie was that I have an affinity for maids. I don't." She crossed her arms. "And quite frankly, I don't know what to make of the notion that the both of you think that I do."
There was a brief pause for silence.
"...Well," ventured Mia, "You're certainly more domestic than we are."
"And unlike us, you can actually cook," added Lanzhu.
"Knowing how to cook does not mean I have an affinity for maids," stated Shioriko with minor annoyance.
"You also know how to use the laundry machine," added Mia.
"Don't you mean washing machine?" asked Lanzhu, eyeing the girl in the rearview mirror.
Mia looked away, suddenly wishing she hadn't brought it up. "It's better for everyone if I think of it as the laundry machine," she nearly pouted.
"...did something happen?" asked Lanzhu.
Next to her, Shioriko sighed. "According to Kasumi-san, she once put vegetables in the washing machine because she thought that's how you *wash* vegetables."
As Lanzhu belted out a laugh at the natural blonde's expense, Mia scowled and crossed her arms defiantly. "It has such a misleading name!" she ranted, "If they're gonna call it a washing machine then they should specify what it washes! Call it a clothes-washer or something! Washing machine is way too generic! What if I assumed it was meant to wash my body and I jumped in for a spin cycle, huh?! That's a lawsuit waiting to happen! In fact, maybe I'll do it just to spite them! Don't think I won't! I'm from America, I'll sue anyone!"
As Mia continued to rant and Lanzhu continued to laugh, Shioriko could only facepalm.
""You have never performed at Budokan,"" chorused Mia and Shioriko blandly together.
"How did you know?!" cried Lanzhu.
"Because if you had, you'd have made it part of your introduction," deadpanned Mia. "You're not one to sit on that. You'd rather shout it from the rooftops."
Shioriko hummed in agreement. "I tend to agree. Humility is more of a learned trait for you."
Lanzhu's cheeks puffed up in a pout. "I put so much thought into my two truths too..."
"I guess it's my turn then," remarked Mia. Her eyes wandered out the window as she hummed in thought. "Let's see... I composed my first song at the age of 4, my favorite animals are rabbits, and I own a gun. What's my lie?"
"It's the second. Your favorite animals are cats," stated Lanzhu confidently.
"Wrong," refuted Mia, "I like cats and I think they're adorable, but I'd totally gush over a bunny if I saw one." She sighed. "Alas, I've yet to see any other animals other than Hanpen on campus."
"Then... were you not actually 4 years old when you composed your first song?" ventured Shioriko.
"Also wrong. The first song I ever composed was a tune on a play piano I got as a present for my fourth birthday." The natural blonde put on a wistful smile. "My family has video of me ignoring my birthday cake and playing it over and over again."
In the front, the older girls blinked. "Then that means..."
"Yeah. I don't actually own a gun. That was my lie."
"...Oh."
For a while, all was silent as they all reflected on Mia's three statements.
"You both seem rather surprised at that," noted Mia, eyeing them up accusingly.
"Well! It's just... You're a pretty standard American," said Lanzhu. "You speak crudely, love burgers, enjoy baseball... Why wouldn't you own a gun?"
"I am more than my nationality!"
"I think we should do something to celebrate this occasion," declared Lanzhu.
Mia raised an eyebrow. "Celebrate what?" she asked, "We're just driving around aimlessly talking about whatever random topic comes to mind."
"We're bonding," insisted Lanzhu. "And you know what the best hallmark of both celebration and bonding is?"
"Burgers?" guessed Mia.
"The friends we've made along the way?" supposed Shioriko.
"Wrong!" exclaimed Lanzhu. "It's alcohol!"
The ravenette next to her frowned. "Lanzhu, you know as well as I do the legal drinking age is 20. I refuse to let you break any more laws than you already have."
"Any more? What did I do?" cried Lanzhu.
"Destruction of private property," deadpanned Shioriko. "Remember the dragon?"
"...I already said I was sorry."
"You still haven't!"
"Also, I'm 14," interrupted Mia. "If I even get a whiff of hand sanitizer my day is over. Wake me up tomorrow please."
"Come on guys, you're only young once!" pleaded the pinkette. "We can get some drinks, then pull over at a nice spot and shoot the breeze. And we can do it while inebriated!"
"Lanzhu, no," denied Shioriko.
"But-!"
"I'm with Shioriko on this one," remarked Mia. "Let's just not and say we did."
Outvoted, Lanzhu could only sigh and keep on driving.
But eventually, they had to stop driving.
No matter how Lanzhu wished it weren't so, they had to. The Mifune Empress was almost out of gas.
Not that Lanzhu would take them home just yet. There was still so much time left in the day, so much more time for them to bond. They just needed to spend a few minutes at a gas station and they could continue their outing, footloose and fancy-free.
Then the pinkette decided she had to use the restroom and parked, running into the building while telling her friends to stay in the car and that she would be quick. With matching sighs of resignation, Shioriko and Mia could only obey, sitting silently in the stationary sports car that was almost haunted by Lanzhu's lack of presence. It was an atmosphere that could be described as awkward.
"Are we friends?" asked Mia suddenly.
Blinking in surprise, Shioriko turned around to look incredulously at the natural blonde eyeing her from the back seat. "What?"
"I said, are we friends?" repeated Mia evenly.
"I would say yes," answered Shioriko sincerely. She frowned. "Is there a reason why you would believe otherwise?"
Mia looked away and folded her arms, settling back against the comfortable fabric of her seat. "Forget it," she uttered. "It's not important."
"On the contrary, that sounds rather paramount if you felt the need to ask," replied the ravenette. She looked at Mia worriedly, but the smaller girl was unresponsive and reticent. Pursing her lips, Shioriko attempted a different way to get her to open up, a theory she'd had ever since Mia first brought it up. "Won't you tell me of your concerns?" she bid, "Mia-senpai?"
Mia flinched at the honorific attached to her name, gaze flicking warily into the other girl's deep scarlet irises filled with care and a touch of mischief. She grimaced but spoke up. "That... Calling me senpai... isn't fair."
And just like that, Shioriko's theory was confirmed.
"Oh? You keep telling all the first and second years to call you senpai, yet you get flustered when one of them listens?"
"You're just using it because you want something from me."
If she was called senpai, Mia folded like a cheap suit.
"I only want to understand you better, Mia-senpai," replied Shioriko innocuously. "So? Won't you enlighten your kouhai with your wisdom? Senpai?"
"S-Stop..." mumbled Mia as she buried her face in her hands to hide her blushing face. "I-It's not like it makes me happy when you rely on me or anything, b-baka!"
Shioriko couldn't help but smile gently at such an endearing sight. "Thank you for showing me this side of yourself, Mia-san. It makes me happy that you trust me enough to be your true adorable self."
"Don't call me adorable," muttered the blonde.
"So if you're already this comfortable around me, then... why did you feel the need to ask if we were friends?"
Eventually emerging from her senpai-induced shell, Mia finally looked at her. "Because... in all the time we've known each other, I think this is the first conversation we've ever had together. Just you and me. No Lanzhu, or anyone else here to smooth things along." She shrugged. "I guess I wondered if that meant we were friends, or if we only liked hanging around the same people."
"I see," remarked Shioriko with a hum. She pondered. "I suppose I've also had that thought. That, when it's just the three of us like it is now, you and I would drift apart once Lanzhu left. It's certainly a genuine concern to have."
"Right? If we're not friends, then we're just two awkward teenagers competing for Lanzhu's attention."
Shioriko laughed. "Goodness, that would be the case, wouldn't it? What a sad pair that would make us." She gave Mia a smile. "In the mutual interest of avoiding that particularly unflattering label, why don't the two of us have an outing all of our own? Are you free to get lunch tomorrow?"
Mia nodded. "Yeah. And since we got what I wanted today, you can pick the place." She smiled when Shioriko expressed her appreciation for the gesture, but that nagging thought at the back of her mind remained, and she frowned. "But Shioriko... what if we aren't friends without Lanzhu there?"
The ravenette pondered quietly. "Then I suppose we would have to accept that. Though that's no reason for us to avoid each other. Regardless if we're truly friends in the fullest meaning of the word, I've enjoyed my time with you and Lanzhu today. Did you?"
"I did," agreed Mia.
"Then that's that. Friends with the right set of circumstances, you could say."
"Friends-with-circumstances?" experimented the blonde. "I don't know if that sounds more suggestive or stupid."
"It can be both."
"I guess it can." She trailed off. "Hey. However tomorrow goes, let's not tell Lanzhu about this conversation."
"I think that would be for the best as well."
"Yeah. What she doesn't know won't come back to..." Mia let her sentence drift off, having caught Lanzhu returning to them out of the corner of her eye. She looked over at the approaching pinkette and her face morphed into a disapproving frown. "Oh no."
Shioriko tilted her head in confusion, but followed Mia's gaze. She loosed a very audible sigh. How disgruntled she was to see Lanzhu returning with a triumphant smile, one hand forming a victory sign, the other holding up a six pack of beer.
"You are the single worst influence in both our lives," stated Mia. "I want you to know that."
Lanzhu pointed to herself in confusion. "Watashi?"
"Yes you!"
"Now Mia, why would you say something so hurtful?"
"Hurtful my-! Shioriko, back me up here!"
The first-year sighed. "Lanzhu. We want you to know how very disappointed we are in you right now."
"Thanks mom," said the pinkette sarcastically. She paused. "Actually, if you're the Mom..." She looked to the blonde with a grin, "Then you can be Mamma Mia~!" she punned shamelessly.
Her response was two facepalms.
"At least Ai-san is proud of you..." muttered Shioriko.
"We're here!" announced Lanzhu cheerily as she ducked into a parking space and killed the engine.
"You drove us to school," deadpanned Mia.
Her apathy did nothing to curb Lanzhu's enthusiasm. "Yep!"
The Empress sat in the middle of Nijigasaki's empty faculty parking lot, set right outside the academy administration wing as the setting sun cast a harsh golden glow on the familiar school scenery. Taking off her driving sunglasses, Lanzhu dropped them in a cup holder and popped open the door, hopping out for a much needed stretch. Seeing as how they were basically confined to a car for quite a few hours themselves, her passengers followed suit.
"Why decide to stop here?" asked Mia once she'd loosened her muscles.
"I thought it'd be a good way to end the day," said Lanzhu, spinning herself happily with arms outstretched. "Without this school, we wouldn't be here together like this, right?"
"Was this your intention from the outset?" asked Shioriko.
The pinkette shrugged. "It was an idea," she admitted, "Nothing more concrete than that. But hey, we're here just in time to see the sunset! Cool, right?"
"I suppose it would be a poetic end to our day," allowed the ravenette.
Mia let out a tired yawn. "Yeah, poetry is good and all that. Who knows, maybe I'll even work this into a song."
"Even better!" enthused Lanzhu. She looked around. "Hey, why don't we find a good spot to watch the sunset?"
Cajoling the younger idols, the Hongkonger led them around the school grounds, pointing out benches, sculptures, and other vantage points, finding fun in judging these small facets of the school they attended on her arbitrary criteria. Mia and Shioriko joined in as well, the trio sharing humor and warmth as the shadows cast by the setting sun continued to lengthen, a surefire signal of night's encroaching embrace.
Caught up in the moment, it seemed as if their search for a spot would never end, until they passed through a patch of lawn. A tall, dark shape caught Shioriko's eye, and she turned to it with an epiphany.
"Lanzhu, Mia-san," called Shioriko, putting hand to bark. "What say we climb this tree together?" she asked with a smile.
Nestled in the branches of a sturdy tree, the R3BIRTH trio looked towards the sun, mesmerized by the great glowing orb as it sank below the horizon. Each of them also held an open beer can, Lanzhu having smuggled them along and asking them with heartfelt intent if they would break beer with her.
Shioriko had responsibly decreed that Lanzhu wouldn't drive until an hour after said beer was consumed, but they were alright with that; That just meant another hour they got to be together.
They settled against each other comfortably and Lanzhu held out her beer for a toast.
"To us," she cheered. Their beers made contact, her friends returning the gesture, and they all prepared to drink. "Kanpai~"
As one, they took their first sips.
For a while, all was silent, save for a flight of birds that passed overhead along with a gentle caress of the evening breeze. The alcohol danced along their taste buds, their thoughts aligning together to form a singular collective opinion.
"...This beer is shit," uttered Mia with revulsion. "Absolutely terrible!"
"I can't believe I paid money for this," muttered Lanzhu. "I could probably homebrew something better than this and I'm a domestic disaster."
"The really sad thing is," sighed Shioriko, "I might actually believe that."
After disposing of their unwanted beer properly, the three of them passed the time with a rousing game of kick the can in order to work off the non-existent buzz they'd technically gained. Fortunately, contrary to her earlier claim, Mia's day was not quite over just yet.
The sun had fully disappeared, leaving the night sky to be filled with the lights of the Tokyo metropolitan area. chief among these lights being the aptly named Rainbow Bridge just across the water. Staring contentedly at the light show, they reached the unspoken agreement that it was time to leave.
"Thanks for inviting me out today, Lanzhu," said Mia as she clicked her seatbelt. "I had a lot of fun, and I... really value our friendship," confessed Mia, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.
Azure eyes beamed brightly in excitement and validation, and it was all Lanzhu could do to keep from vibrating in elation.
Next to her, Shioriko nodded in agreement. "I feel the exact same way. No matter what the future holds, I hope we can be together like this for the rest of our lives."
Lanzhu's eyes teared up, and she felt a surge of bliss welling up inside her. "Mia... Shioriko..." she let out. She turned to them suddenly, doing her best to hug the both of them. "I love you both so much!" she cried.
Sharing a knowing glance, Mia and Shioriko comforted her back despite the awkward positioning, nuzzling against her and melting in their shared warmth.
"We love you too, Lanzhu."
~END~
AN: I feel this has a pre-LanMiaShio vibe to it, if you want it to.
Funnily enough, this whole thing came from me trying to come up with Mia headcanons. It was not long before I realized that her asking for Big Smoke's order was probably in character. Then I somehow built a road trip story around that.
Other fast food companies in this setting include: Nozomi & Company, Umino's Pizza, Rinnabon, and Honkin' Donuts.
They are all wholly owned subsidiaries of Muse Megafoods. :)