The booth took their picture with a loud and energetic announcement. Then Ruka and Ginka moved over to the part for drawing and adding effects. Seeing a version of themselves with their eyes twice as big seemed to really throw Ginka off, but Ruka went straight for the pen.
“Gotta write BFFs on here, right?”
“BFFs...?” Ginka repeated, before her face went red. “Best friends forever...?”
After writing on their pic, Ruka drew a little flower on top as a finishing touch.
When they left the arcade, Ruka felt her phone vibrating in her bag. She had a message with a pic of Meiri holding a mic in a dark room. There was a text that said, “C’mon, karaoke time!” and a pinned spot on a map.
Normally Ruka would already be on her way, but she was with Ginka right now. All of them were her friends, of course, but they weren’t all friends with each other yet. So she had to check first.
“Mei and Hina are singing karaoke nearby. Wanna go?”
“Sure. Meeting up with the two of them would be fine.”
Ginka’s answer made Ruka happy, and she smiled when she texted Hinaru back. And as the two of them walked to the karaoke place together, Ruka stopped caring about all the random people around them.
I just wanna hurry up and see those two!
They made it to the spot Hinaru had sent them, checked in with an employee, and walked into their room. As soon as they were inside—
“You’re heeeere! Ooh, and it’s Shijunana-san! WELCOME!” Hinaru yelled.
So freaking loud! My eardrums hurt! Why’d I get so excited about seeing these dorks again?
Ruka gave Hinaru an intense look, while Meiri sipped on her juice and stared at Ginka.
“You look different, Shijunana-san. Aren’t you, like, even prettier now?” Meiri said with a smile.
“Heh, you’re making me blush,” Ruka replied.
“What’re you blushing for, Ruka?!” Meiri asked.
Just then, the music started again, and Hinaru’s singing filled the room.
She’s seriously loud AF.
Ginka put her Corolle bag on the sofa and took a seat near Meiri. “Ruka brought me to a cosmetics store, and they did my makeup.”
“Ah, so that’s what’s up.”
“It is my first time wearing makeup, so I was nervous. I’m sure I would have run away if Ruka hadn’t been there.”
“Wait, it’s seriously your first time? Wow, I missed out on a real... Hrmm?” Meiri started swirling her juice around in her cup. “Wasn’t something kinda off just now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Shijunana-san, you said you got your makeup done, got nervous, and ran away... Wait, you didn’t actually run...” Meiri tapped her forehead as she thought. “Ah, got it! You called Ruka by her first name!”
“Ooooh, so you realized, huuuuuh?” Ruka grinned, took the pics from the arcade out of her bag, and showed them to Meiri. “Starting now, we’re Ruka and Ginka, flower BFFs! Y’know, ’cause of how our names are written! Nice to meetcha!”
“Wh-What’s with this pic? I’m so jealou—”
“No fair, no fair, no fair, no fair!” Hinaru shouted into the mic and made everyone’s ears ring. The walls shook, and some of Meiri’s juice splashed out of her cup. “I wanna be friends with Shiju...er, Ginka-chan! Hey, Ginka-chan, can I use your first name too?”
“I-I suppose I don’t mind...” Ginka stammered.
“Then can I call you Gin-neesan?” Meiri asked.
“D-Do as you please...”
Now that they had Ginka’s permission, Hinaru and Meiri gave each other satisfied looks.
Something’s going on, ’cause they’re fired up today. Or, wait, they’re always like this...
“Hinaru, Meiri, thank you for inviting me here. I’m glad I could see you today,” Ginka said with a smile.
Hinaru and Meiri froze.
“Wh-Whoa... I couldn’t breathe for a sec...”
“Gin-neesan, I feel like your beauty’s healing my soul...”
Ruka stared at them. “Aren’t you two way too in love with her already?” She took a seat on the sofa and handed the song selection console to Ginka.
Ginka shook her head. “I don’t know any popular songs, so I’ll refrain from singing.”
“C’mon, you came all the way out here, so let’s hear you sing,” Ruka insisted.
“But... All I know are old songs...”
“No worries. Mei and Hina are always picking nonsense to sing anyway.”
Ginka reluctantly poked around on the console until a song title in English showed up on the screen.
“What kinda song is that?”
“A really old metal song...”
Hinaru finished singing, and Ruka and Meiri clapped for her. The intro for the next song started playing right away. As soon as Ginka took the mic from Hinaru, she looked more calm and peaceful than Ruka had ever seen.
Ginka’s singing voice was incredible. The cheap electronic music suddenly became a full-on EDM arrangement with Ginka’s voice, and the intense melody got the other girls all fired up even though none of them knew what the song was about.
Ginka wasn’t using any exoforce, but she was shining. Ruka, Hinaru, and Meiri looked like they were watching a goddess at work. Once the song was over, the usual background music started playing again, but the three girls were still frozen in their seats.
Meiri moved first. She stood up with a bright, innocent smile and said, “So good...”
“Amazing! Incredible!” Hinaru yelled. She was clapping so hard, it looked like her nails were gonna come off.
“That was exhausting. I’ll be taking a break.” Ginka put the mic down on the table and leaned back on the sofa. Her beautiful silver hair sparkled as it dangled over the backrest. “It really has been a long time since I last tired myself out having fun...”
A mix of relief and excitement welled up inside Ruka. “Glad to hear that...” she said softly.
And then she picked a song, grabbed the mic, and jumped to her feet. “All right, we’re gonna sing our hearts out today! Let’s go till our throats quit on us!”
“I just said I was tired, didn’t I...?”
“Forget that! Because! Our stamina! Is! Infinite!”
Ginka looked shocked, Hinaru laughed, and Meiri grinned. As the three of them watched, Ruka started singing. Of course, she kept going until she was all worn out!