Slowly narrowing down my to-do list~
Senpai Series #3: SayuRiho (Tanashige)Sayumi could feel the glare burning into her shoulder without even needing to turn around, and though it was not wise to ignore her cat-like lover for any length of time, she was too fixated on her prey at the moment. The 9kis were receiving additional instruction for the upcoming concert, and she was watching them from the side--Riho in particular--like a hawk.
"Sayu," Reina began, irritated after she realized the leader wasn't going to face her, "You were supposed to meet me for lunch half an hour ago. We don't have a lot of time together this week, you know..."
The bunny gave a short grunt in response, distracted as her target gave a slight, incredibly cute yawn. She was oblivious to the way Reina was bristling behind her, and was saved from a jealous swat to the arm by the sudden arrival of Haruka and Masaki. The latter launched herself at the youngest rokkie and clung to her like a baby koala, while Haruka stood next to her favored senpai in much more reserved admiration.
"Tanaka-saaaan~" Masaki squealed, happily ignoring the way the yankii struggled to hold her weight, "We're so bored..."
"I'm not your mom, what do you want me to do about it?" Reina growled, though her anger was quickly being subdued in the younger members' presence. Sayumi had finally torn herself away from watching Riho to take in the scene and she couldn't help but shoot Reina a smirk that said, 'You may as well be.'
The yankii responded with a glare that said, 'Fuck you.'
"Take us to find some treats?" Haruka suggested hopefully, her cute, pleading babyface too much for the kitten's already Masaki-weakened defenses. Reina sighed.
"Fine. Since
someone--who will be sleeping on the floor tonight, might I add--skipped out on lunch with me, I might as well."
Sayumi paled, realizing her mistake, but before she could say anything, the yankii scowled and turned on her heel with Masaki still attached to her side. She could faintly hear something about "...Mama makes Papa do that when she's mad at him too..." as they wandered away, and she sighed, glancing at Haruka. The youngest member gave her a knowing, almost apologetic look before scampering off in the direction of the others.
She mentally berated herself for not paying good attention to her girlfriend. Every time she thought she'd managed to balance out the leader thing with love and her other interests, something would tip the scale and she had to scramble to set things right again. Sure, she was maybe a bit... obsessed with the younger members. But not in the way that everyone liked to tease her for.
Truth be told, Sayumi almost wished she could be them. They were cute and young and full of energy, and while she wasn't exactly a relic herself or anything, little things kept popping up to remind her of her age. Like how she could be completely exhausted after a rehearsal and yet the younger members acted as though it was nothing, or the way her once-favorite hairstyles--instead of making her look young--now just made her seem a bit creepy.
Hanging around the kids was like a breath of fresh air, a way to grab hold of that energy she'd once had. She watched them to pick up on what was considered to be cute, in the hopes that it would rub off on her. And they were just so darn adorable, too.
She couldn't tell Reina any of this--the yankii was sure to tell her she was an idiot, that she loved her the way she was, cute or not and to just be herself. But Sayumi wasn't sure she could just let go of that image. To truly just be an adult, the thought terrified her.
And yet, on the opposite end, she was realizing other things about herself as well, other reasons for being so drawn to the younger members. She had watched so many of her senpai marry and have kids... now more than ever did the same desire tug at the back of her mind, scared as she was to grow up. Did she want that with Reina? Or better yet, was it possible the yankii wanted it with her? Maybe. She hoped so; she couldn't deny that she'd imagined kids of their own in the place of the younger members whenever Masaki and Haruka hung around Reina, and found the image surprisingly pleasant.
She sighed again. Maybe she
was being stupid.
"Michishige-san?" The leader was broken from her thoughts by Ayumi and Haruna, the two having wandered up to her curiously in the midst of their search for their generation-mates. The 10ki ace was watching her with a mixture of concern and hesitation--likely to flee if her leader went hug-mode, and Haruna looked as if she might swoon.
"What is it?"
"Ah, well, you looked so..." Daishi struggled a bit, as if she was having trouble associating Sayumi and the word she was about to say in the same headspace, "...serious."
"Oh," Sayumi quickly recovered for the sake of her kouhai, flashing the duo a brilliant smile, "It's nothing to worry about, I promise. If you're looking for Maachan and Haruka-chan, they just took off that way with Reina."
"Okay..." Ayumi replied slowly, her wariness apparent as she inched of range of the leader. Haruna was still in a daze, mumbling something like, "...Michishige-san... So cute..." but she was easily swept away by her generation-mate, leaving Sayumi alone with her thoughts again. At least until she heard the dance coach mention something about the 9kis getting a break.
Instantly her gaze homed in on Riho, who shot up straight as if the little Sayu-radar-warning-siren in her head was going off. The 9ki ace took off like a bullet, leaving a confused Kanon in her wake, the younger girl realizing what was going on too late to avoid being barreled over by her leader. Sayumi would be undeterred, however, and she muttered a quick apology before racing after her target.
"It's amazing how suddenly athletic she gets when Riho-chan's involved..." Mizuki mused, watching quietly as Erina helped Kanon back to her feet.
"Why is it always me...?" The youngest whined.
"You should have learned by now not to come between them..."
"Mou~ I miss Takahashi-san..."
"What about Niigaki-san?! ...ow! Hey!"
"You're just as bad as Michishige-san!"
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"The others all think you're weird, you know," Riho started quietly, kicking her feet a bit as they dangled over the edge of the roof, "Except maybe Maachan, but I think she might literally just love everyone..."
Sayumi shrugged, leaning back on her hands to look up at the sky. This was routine for them; the leader would chase Riho through the building until they ended up on the roof, which had been determined a neutral, no-hugging zone. Every time Sayumi failed to catch the girl, but she never gave up, and enjoyed their quiet talks anyway. And though Riho would never admit it out loud, she was growing fond of the bunny leader, and was almost tempted to throw the game every now and then.
Almost.
"Let them think what they want. You don't get talked about in the idol world for being normal, after all."
"I suppose that's true..."
"Besides, it's sort of embarrassing, really." Sayumi continued, drawing her knees up to her chest, her sudden change in tone causing Riho to look over at her, "No offense or anything but... It probably looks really bad for me as leader to be secretly relying so much on a 14-year-old kid."
It was true, Sayumi had opened up to Riho about a great deal of things since she'd become leader, for reasons the younger girl couldn't possibly imagine. She never questioned it, though; for one thing it made her feel incredibly important and responsible that the leader trusted her so much. Even if all she really did was listen.
"From the beginning, nobody thought I could do this, you know? Not even Reina... But at least she wanted me to succeed, I guess. Even now I think some people are holding their breath, waiting for me to mess up so they can start with all their 'I told you so's'."
"I think you've done well..." Riho murmured, "Everyone seems pretty happy."
Sayumi grinned, brushing the dust off of her skirt as she rose to her feet.
"It's starting to feel like a family again."
The younger girl blinked quietly up at her leader, unsure of what she meant. She took Sayumi's hand anyway, hopping up on her feet and mimicking the older female's previous actions. It really wasn't her place to give the woman any advice, Riho thought, chewing hesitantly on her bottom lip. And yet, if she didn't say anything, who would? Takahashi-san, Niigaki-san, and Mitsui-san were gone, after all.
"You should talk to Tanaka-san about all of this." Riho blurted out awkwardly after a moment of silence, "I think that... She's been worried about you and if you talked to her then she'd feel better... And I think you would feel better too..."
Sayumi's shocked expression almost made the young ace regret having said anything, but the bunny soon smiled, sheepishly rubbing her arm.
"You're probably right. Thanks, RihoRiho."
An affectionate hair ruffle accompanied the annoying-but-endearing nickname, and the young ace watched as her leader began to walk back inside. Something came over Riho suddenly, and before her rational mind could process it, she had scampered after the older girl and flung her arms about Sayumi's waist from behind in a tight hug.
The bunny for her part, was so startled that she very nearly toppled over. After she got over her shock however, she grinned widely and stood perfectly still as though afraid moving would scare Riho off and thus end the perfect moment.
"I thought this was a no-hugging zone?"
"It is." The younger girl muttered into her back, blushing slightly.
Somewhere down below, in one of the lower levels of the building, Reina thought she could hear the distinct sound of her girlfriend's voice as it screeched the words "SO CUTE~!" to the heavens. She scowled, sighed, and very calmly rose amidst the 10ki chatter to go and collect her lover before Riho died of intense fangirling.