Clusterhug

7

"Terukoko! You, me, my place, and a movie!" Aiura pumped her fist. "What do you say?"

Teruhashi told her— as politely as possible, mind you— that though she loved their outings and appreciated the time they spent together, that she didn't feel right letting Aiura pay for everything, nor did she think it was healthy to go out to eat every other day of the week.

She'd agreed, skillfully hiding slight hurt in her heart, and hadn't asked her out for over a week. Teruhashi had enjoyed the small break, dismissing the nagging boredom. Aiura had simply embraced the boredom and told herself it was for the best.

Teruhashi had been fully aware of all the awkward glances and frantic waves she'd been given, of which about half she responded to, and figured after twelve whole days, Aiura must've been getting antsy.

"How about tomorrow, since it's Saturday?"

Her face immediately lit up before she had a chance to feign disinterest.

"Tomorrow it is!"

********************

Tomorrow soon came.

Looking down, there was a doormat reading "Beware Of The Dog." It had a fake bite mark at the bottom corner, but was written in a plain font.

"You have a dog...?"

Aiura laughed. "Nope! I mean, we had a dog years ago, but not anymore. I kinda just have that to spook the neighbors. Prevents thievery and such, y'know?"

Teruhashi nodded along, thinking how she ought to get a mat for her own house.

"But then it has the funny little bite mark..."

"That doesn't take away from the intentional intimidation it's meant to convey, does it?" she asked, peeking over it.

"I don't think so. I mean, I want them to be scared of the pooch, but not of me, eh?" And then she let out a belly laugh, one of the good ones, and opened the door. "After you, Milady...?"

Teruhashi bowed playfully, lightly gripping the sides of her shirt. "Thank you, madam."

Aiura smiled and led her inside.

As soon as she stepped in, Aiura's style choices were practically plastered on the wall. The walls themselves were painted white, but everything else in the house was patterned or neon colored. There were strange lamps and crystals adorning every tabletop from one side of the small house to the other.

The place didn't seem new, but was well-kept and freshly painted. The only thing that tipped her off about it were the handles on the cabinets that she hadn't seen outside of family reunions.

There were two wallets on the part of the countertop visible from the doorway, along with a couple of sets of keys. Seeing Aiura throw her own set of keys with a glittery keychain attached to them next to the other sets of keys wasn't exactly a big surprise, but an amusing contrast nonetheless.

"I like, mega spiffied the place up for you, by the way." She chuckled and clapped for a second. "Let us applaud my hard work."

Teruhashi hesitantly joined along, but only made it through about two awkward claps before Aiura stopped.

"Now, I got a movie for us to watch— But! Have you eaten yet? I could make us some food. I don't mean to brag, but I totally mean to brag; I am very good at making ramen, though that kinda takes a while. I could make some curry or something, unless you want something else?"

"Oh, I'm fine! You don't have to cook, Miko-chan."

"Yeah, but have you eaten yet?"

"I'm good!" She bowed quickly. "Really, you don't need to trouble yourself."