Gosh this was honestly hard to write...! Since I'm quite new to this and all...
Hopefully it meets the expectations of you viewers out there! Thanks for the support so far! Illumination - Part II (END)
The next day, the two Matsuis were not able to concentrate properly during their work, stuttering here and there but they managed to cover their mistakes up professionally in spite of getting a ridiculous amount of nagging from the staff members on site. It was a short talk show which centered on the new Wcenters—Kitagawa Ryouha and Miyamae Ami. Jurina and Rena were pretty much there as backup if the atmosphere goes cold throughout the programme.
Though it seems like the professional duo really made a mess of it, but luckily the viewer’s rating did not plunge anyhow lower than expected. A great sense of relief went through their minds. Their juniors asked if they were okay and while Rena answered as calmly as she could, Jurina couldn’t help but jitter rather obviously. That made Rena awfully suspicious, but she did not want to pay that to mind.
After the programme, all four members excused themselves to the dressing room to change and leave the studio. There, Rena continuously latched herself onto her cute kouhai, Ryouha, which ticked Jurina off slightly. Sure, Rena has been established to be quite the lolicon nowadays but Jurina couldn’t accept that after accidentally seeing her note last night. Ami noticed her behaviour but didn’t say a word, but to diffuse Jurina’s short-temper, she tried to talk to her about various things, like the programme that just passed and her plans before returning to Nagoya the following day in which the latter conversed with her as normally as possible.
Suddenly, a staff came in and informed them that their transport had arrived. Rena, holding hands with Ryouha, went towards the car park in advance, causing Jurina to pout and Ami nudged her on the shoulder, motioning that they should follow suit.
In the van, Rena and Ryouha were enjoying their conversation about the randomest of things. Jurina looked out of the window with Ami just remaining quiet despite her curiosity of wanting to know why Jurina was behaving like this, even though she knew it was pretty much because of Rena.
Arriving at the hotel, Ryouha and Ami parted ways from their senpai, leaving the two alone. Jurina was still in a bad mood which she tries to deny that it was jealousy or possessiveness over Rena while the latter gestured for them to return to the room and prepare to head out to see the illuminations.
At the hallway towards their room, Airi, who was alongside Akane, greeted Rena. And boy, did sparks fly when Jurina and Airi exchanged gazes. Rena and Akane just shrugged at the sight.
“You free now Rena? Akane and I want to go check out the illuminations at midtown. Wanna tag along?” Airi gave a warm smile to Rena.
“Ah. You guys are visiting the illuminations too? Jurina and I are actually—"
“… Rena’s not going with you both,” Jurina voiced out, cutting short Rena’s sentence and her tone of voice sounding rather gruff.
“Jurina, we’re going to the same place. It’d be fun if all four of us—"
“No means no,” Jurina cut Airi’s sentence this time, giving her a really annoyed look.
“J-Jurina-san… are you okay…?” Akane asked, with a look of concern.
The youngest member of the four of them suddenly snapped out of her blind rage and ruffled her hair awkwardly, “O-Oops… uh yeah. I’m okay. Or maybe not… ahahaha. Sorry if I was kinda rude…”
“Jurina…?” Rena looked at Jurina who looked back at her, feeling flustered.
“I-I’ll be in the room. Please excuse me,” Jurina hurriedly swiped her keycard on the lock of her hotel room and went in, leaving Rena, Airi and Akane right outside, dumbfounded for a moment.
“Did something happen at work? She’s acting rather strangely today,” Akane asked out of concern.
Rena shook her head, “I don’t think so? Nothing major at least. Both Jurina and I just kept slipping up on what the cue cards said today that’s all.”
“Hmm… guess it means Churi and I are going together first then. I hope she’s alright,” despite being rivals for Rena’s attention, Airi was worried for Jurina as well.
“Sure. Enjoy yourselves you two. Thanks for the invite regardless.”
“You and Jurina have fun as well. Hopefully we can meet up there,” Akane smiled.
As the two left the hallway, Rena let out a deep sigh before facing the door with her keycard in hand. She felt there was something terribly wrong with Jurina today. The younger Matsui had screwed up as much as she did today. Her gut feelings made it feel like she was the cause of the younger Matsui’s emotional issue.
With a heavy heart, she opened the door.
- - - - - -
Jurina’s POV
What. The. Heck. Is. WRONG. WITH. ME.
“Aaarghh!!!” I let out a groan of frustration while burying my face in my own hands as I sat at the edge of my bed.
Ever since last night, Rena-chan has thrown me seriously off balance! All I could think was about my feelings towards Rena-chan since this morning… as much as I’m excited about seeing the illuminations but this has gotten in the way of my priorities. I mean, can you blame me? I’m an adolescent who still hasn’t actually experienced what ‘love’ truly is yet. Accidentally seeing the one person you’re pretty much closest with due to work writing things related to loving me… it’s… I don’t know!
The fact I made a blunder during a simple talk show as well… I, Matsui Jurina, actually slipped up at a simple talk show! I haven’t made such mistakes in so long… darn it… And it was all because I had to interact with Rena-chan on set… To think Rena-chan is driving me nuts now…!!!
“Jurina…?”
Ah… here she comes… just great. How should I display myself for her now?
“Rena-chan…” All I managed was calling out to her softly, face still buried in the warmth of my hands.
“H-Hey, are you okay?” I could feel her kneeling right in front of me, a hand on my head, patting it softly. It was comforting. I had always loved how Rena-chan patted my head to praise me or cheer me up.
“… Yeah,” I looked downwards to see Rena-chan’s face positioned quite closely to mine. Ah... I know Rena was beautiful… but when was she ever
this beautiful… Gosh, that accidental ‘confession’ I read last night is really screwing up my mind…
“Come on, tell me what’s on your mind, Jurina.”
“You…”
“Huh…?”
The patting suddenly stopped and when Rena-chan was about to fall back, I managed to catch her fall by pulling onto the hand that was patting my head till a moment ago. Her face had turned red, and I could feel mine heating up too.
“I-I said you, Rena-chan… you’re… on my mind…” I looked away at Rena-chan in embarrassment. Matsui Jurina, since when have you gotten so darn cheesy?! It’s awfully lame!
“J-Jurina…” She continued after a brief sigh, “… You didn’t happen… to have read what I had written on the notepad at the coffee table… now did you?”
Crap. Now what? Come on brain. THINK!
“I-I…”
Should I just admit it?! No wait, what if she gets mad?! Not only I’ll miss the illuminations… but I’ll just put a strain on my friendship with Rena-chan!
She suddenly stood up, my hand still holding onto hers, and she gave me a wry smile, “You did… didn’t you…? Don’t worry, I’m not mad or anything.”
I apologised, still looking away from her.
At that moment, she bended down slightly and I felt her free hand cupping my chin, tilting my head to face hers. Closing the distance between us, I felt her soft lips pressed onto mine with her eyes closed. I, on the other hand, recovering from the jolt of Rena-chan’s lips, slowly closed my eyes to feel what she’s feeling now.
Is this… how love feels like…?
She broke the kiss when it was time for some air and averted my gaze, turning her back on me, obviously feeling embarrassed after what she had done, “S-Sorry… I-It happened on impulse I—"
I jumped out of where I was sitting and hugged her from behind, “… I understand. Thank you, Rena-chan. T-That was close to recapturing my heart… as expected of my ‘other half’…”
“Eh…?”
“I… had feelings for you. For quite some time ago… I just tried to seal them off… because it was forbidden, because it may affect our friendship… because I thought it was one-sided.”
- - - - - -
Rena’s POV
What did... Jurina just say…? She had feelings for me in the past…? No way…
I felt her arms leaving my waist and took the chance to turn and face her. Her bangs were covering her eyes as she lowered her head, making me unable to read how she was feeling now.
“Jurina…”
“… That’s why when I saw what you wrote… I got so confused… my heart ached, my mind went blank…” she clenched her fists, “… I kept thinking on how I would confront you… I didn’t want to ruin our plans for tonight… but… it seems like I let my emotions get ahead of me…”
I held her hands to calm her down, speaking as softly as I could, “I should be the one to blame… I’m sorry for giving you such a headache due to my fantasies… I didn’t realise you felt the same too.”
“I always have, Rena-chan…” She looked straight into my eyes, “E-Even though I’m the infamous kissing monster, I felt differently towards you, Rena-chan!!!” Her face was all red after that exclamation.
I’m glad she’s back to normal though. The Jurina I’ve always known, and loved, more than just a sister.
“You’ve been saying things in past tense. I want to change those past tenses into present ones,” I gave her a confident look, “… So let’s go see the illuminations now. Give me a chance to rekindle your feelings towards me, Jurina.”
I have never ever said such embarrassing thing in my lifetime. Not to mention, horribly cheesy! But seeing Jurina chuckling light-heartedly right now, makes me happy too.
“You sound really confident, Rena-chan. I’m looking forward to it,” she gave me a challenging smirk before nudging me to let go of her hands. I totally forgot I was holding onto her…!
She looked at her cellphone briefly to check the time before giving me a nod, “We should get going. I think there’s going to be a light show soon. It’d be nice to see lights flickering and all.”
I nodded in agreement before leaving our room.
- - - - - -
At the Midtown Garden area, it was just as advertised—a breathtaking view for all to see which created a magical, wintery atmosphere. Both sides of the walkway was just blanketed with lights that turned colour every 10 seconds or so and there were even reindeer-shaped silhouettes covered with the LED lights along the way. Families, couples, and friends were enjoying their time as they walked through the long pathway of lights, taking photos with their loved ones and just being there to experience the sights.
Jurina and Rena were both in awe every step they took, talking about every single detail they see. It was one of these times where Jurina really acted like a kid who couldn’t be held back as she roamed around pointing at the lights which formed cute shapes and shouting Rena’s name to catch her attention. The older Matsui just let her be. She was enjoying herself as well, albeit being a little quieter about it while the latter energetically jumped up and down.
Once they reached the center of the garden, they were just in time for the light show. There were lots of formations, like a wave of lights surging towards them, lights flickering to express that an alien was shooting laser beams and even the galaxy above. It was a good thing that the theme was really incorporated to the light show rather than just being an advertisement.
Jurina rushed to see the illumination show up front while Rena slowly walked behind her, taking in the scenery and a hyped Jurina. She was worried the younger Matsui would be depressed for the whole day, hindering the enjoyment of their ‘date’, but she was glad their confrontation at the hotel room before coming here was worth it. She was back to normal, and not only that, Rena had gotten rid of a stress that had been building up.
- - - - - -
Rena’s POV
Wow… so this is how the illuminations in Tokyo looks like huh… it’s spectacular…
“Rena-chan! Come up in front!”
The fact she isn’t bothered with the whole ‘confession’ issue anymore because of the illuminations is extraordinary as well. I’m relieved she’s still behaving normally around me. I was prepared for the worst but I guess I can get those thoughts off my shoulders now.
“Okay okay,” I stood beside her, placing my hands on the railing that set a gap to prevent people from disturbing the lights used for the light show.
Looking right beside me, was the exact same scene depicted in my imagination. The scene that I had written down and caused quite a stir. I swear I had the urge to pinch myself to check if this was reality or a dream.
Jurina looked on at the illumination which sparkled in her eyes. Her lips forming a huge smile. Seeing her side view… it literally made my heart beat faster and faster each moment I stared at her. She realised my stare and turned to me slowly, calling out my name in embarrassment.
Wait if this continues…
“U-Umm… I could feel your stare, Rena-chan… it’s really… intense…” She ruffled her hair nervously.
“S-Sorry… I was just thinking…” I looked towards the view in front of us, “… Even though the illuminations are pretty… your side view is much more beautiful…”
…...
“Hmm…?” It was suddenly silent, when I turned to look at Jurina, her hands were clenched up near her chest with her bangs covering her eyes again, blushing rather furiously.
“W-Whoa… R-Rena-chan… you’re pretty amazing…”
“What do you mean?”
“W-With that one liner…” She looked at me nervously, “… you made my heart pound like crazy…”
I laughed. It was cute that she actually can get embarrassed till this extent. Usually she tries to look mature, hiding all sense of embarrassment in front of members but now, she’s showing me a side that only I have seen. A side to her which I think is totally adorable.
“M-Mou! Don’t laugh at me, Rena-chan…!” She tugged onto the sleeve of one of my arms while I continued to laugh.
- - - - - -
Jurina’s POV
Man… This is totally… uncool of me! Since when have I allowed Rena-chan to embarrass me like this...
I let out a sigh and leaned closer to her, planting a kiss on her cheek, in hopes of turning the tables around.
“J-Jurina…?” She widened her eyes at me, flustered.
“Yeah… this feels much better,” I grinned, “The tsundere role is yours, not mine.”
“W-Who are you calling a tsundere?!” She exclaimed, and I chuckled in reply.
This is really so much fun… I had fun with my family but with Rena-chan… it feels really different. The fact she’s the first friend who has tagged along with me to check out the illuminations makes her feel even more special in my heart…
Slowly… I can feel it… these feelings… budding inside of me once again…
She crossed her arms with a pout, “Mou…”
“Ne, Rena-chan…”
“Hmm?”
“… I… love you.”
…...
Sensing silence all of a sudden, I took a glance at her. She placed a hand on her mouth, and looked like she was on the verge of crying, which caused me to panic, “O-Oi…! W-What’s wrong with you…?!”
“I-Is…… this a dream…? Jurina…?” She was beginning to sob.
I shook my head and pinched her cheeks softly, “No, silly. You’re in reality. And yes, seems like you were able to impress me, without doing much. But just being here with me now.” I let go of her cheeks and gave her a warm smile, “Thanks, Rena-chan for being my partner since we met, for everything.”
“J-Jurina… Jurina…!” She literally jumped onto me and pulled me into an embrace. I could feel her warm breaths on my neck as I comforted her with a smile.
“I’m so glad I came with you. Next year… in winter, for sure…” I whispered softly, “… I’ll invite you again. It’ll be just the two of us once again… okay?”
I could feel her nodding. Just then, I broke the embrace and used my muffler to wrap us both together, seeing how Rena-chan didn’t have hers on, “Sorry I can’t have a ‘bike date’ with you… but this will do right?” I smiled wryly.
She held onto the muffler with a smile. With our faces being inches away from each other if we turned to face each other, she called out to me, “Jurina…”
“Yeah—?"
— And sneakily kissed me, with the muffler successfully able to block the sight of other people. It was a deeper kiss than the one we had in the hotel but… it certainly felt good with Rena-chan…
As she pulled away, she whispered “I love you too…” softly in embarrassment.
I guess with this… I have done my childhood justice. Rena-chan finally reciprocated her feelings towards me, and I to her.
Suddenly, we both heard voices coming from behind calling out to us. Turning around, it was both Airi and Akane, holding hands.
“Ah! Looks like we were right!” Akane said in glee.
“We were afraid we got the wrong people… and whoaaaa, you guys are actually sharing a muffler?” Airi gasped in sarcasm, “… Like, that’s something someone in the Showa era would do you know,” she smirked mischievously.
“Oh come on! You too? People in this era do this too, okay?!” I exclaimed back at my supposed ‘love rival’, Airi. Seriously, the emcee said the same thing back at ‘Music Station’ that this whole muffler thing is something that was done back in the Showa era…
“Al~right~ calm your horses yo,” Airi stepped back with a smug look on her face in which Churi did me justice by whacking her hard on her arm.
“You both have yet to walk around completely yeah? Why not we go together?” Churi suddenly stopped and looked at me, “… Umm… if that’s okay with you Jurina…?”
Rena-chan looked at me, eager to know my response to Churi as she loosened the muffler a bit so we could walk naturally.
I gave her a thumbs up and off we went to continue this precious experience with Rena-chan sticking closely to me.
This is probably one of the best days of my life.
- - - - - -
Under such a beautiful night, blanketed by the wonderful lights of the illumination, the feelings of both Matsuis have finally reached each other.
It has turned out to be a night to remember for the both of them.