[ Their plans fall into place so quickly after being made it's almost a little scary.
Ai only has a day or so to dither about how she's going to pull this off. She's good at making up off-the-cuff excuses when she and Rinne meet for dinner and other sorts of things but a convincing lie about a four day absence is a bit much even for her. As it turns out, though, she doesn't need to worry. Not two days after they agree on it, a job offer comes through to Strawberry Productions specifically for Ai, all the way from a ryokan out in Izu. It's deceptively innocent; they'll comp a three-night stay with meals included in return for Ai promoting the place and talking it up on her social media once she's home and safe. As offers for Ai go, it's technically on the cheap side but Saitou snaps it up — setting a precedent that they're open to sponsorships like this will pay off big time once tourism season comes around. And just like that, Ai's off to Izu with nobody any the wiser that they've been played.
Honestly, Ai can't help but feel a little wrong footed too. Part of her wants to question exactly who this friend of Rinne's is that he can pull these sorts of strings so quickly and easily but then she thinks about what the combination of "mahjong buddy" and "owns a ryokan" could add up to and decides that actually, she'd really prefer not to know.
If anyone smells something fishy, it's Miyako. Even as Ai does everything she can to throw both her and Saitou off — including subjecting herself willingly to a fifteen minute lecture by asking him whether or not she can take Aqua and Ruby along for the trip, purely to distract him from the issue. Miyako, by contrast, has a suspicious frown on her face all the way up to dropping Ai off at the station and seeing she's getting the train alone... but maybe it's because she's going alone that Miyako smells a rat. What idol goes on a job like this without her manager by her side? But it's too late for her to protest and someone needs to look after Aqua and Ruby... so off Ai goes on her own.
Well. "On her own" is a bit of a stretch. There's only one train that goes from Tokyo to Shizenji, after all and one bus from there to the ryokan. Which means that even though she and Rinne are right there on the same train and the same bus, they have to resolutely pretend the other doesn't exist for the three or so hours it takes to get to the Yugashima Onsen. It's all sorts of silly, sure, but it's necessary too - even though they're both as incognito as it gets, this is still beyond risky. Much more so than any of their little outings before. Weirdly enough though, Ai doesn't feel anxious. The flutter in her stomach feels much more like excitement... as far as she can tell, anyway.
But it's not until the empty bus drops them off at the stop that she dares say anything at all. They step from the warm, dry bus into misty, autumnal rain and Ai heaves a big, performative shudder. ]
Jeez, of course it'd rain at a time like this... [ She fumbles with her luggage for a moment before managing to extract an umbrella from her bag that she promptly pops open above the two of them. ] I know it's not a long walk to the ryokan but still!
[ how on earth is she acting like this is normal ]
no subject
Ai only has a day or so to dither about how she's going to pull this off. She's good at making up off-the-cuff excuses when she and Rinne meet for dinner and other sorts of things but a convincing lie about a four day absence is a bit much even for her. As it turns out, though, she doesn't need to worry. Not two days after they agree on it, a job offer comes through to Strawberry Productions specifically for Ai, all the way from a ryokan out in Izu. It's deceptively innocent; they'll comp a three-night stay with meals included in return for Ai promoting the place and talking it up on her social media once she's home and safe. As offers for Ai go, it's technically on the cheap side but Saitou snaps it up — setting a precedent that they're open to sponsorships like this will pay off big time once tourism season comes around. And just like that, Ai's off to Izu with nobody any the wiser that they've been played.
Honestly, Ai can't help but feel a little wrong footed too. Part of her wants to question exactly who this friend of Rinne's is that he can pull these sorts of strings so quickly and easily but then she thinks about what the combination of "mahjong buddy" and "owns a ryokan" could add up to and decides that actually, she'd really prefer not to know.
If anyone smells something fishy, it's Miyako. Even as Ai does everything she can to throw both her and Saitou off — including subjecting herself willingly to a fifteen minute lecture by asking him whether or not she can take Aqua and Ruby along for the trip, purely to distract him from the issue. Miyako, by contrast, has a suspicious frown on her face all the way up to dropping Ai off at the station and seeing she's getting the train alone... but maybe it's because she's going alone that Miyako smells a rat. What idol goes on a job like this without her manager by her side? But it's too late for her to protest and someone needs to look after Aqua and Ruby... so off Ai goes on her own.
Well. "On her own" is a bit of a stretch. There's only one train that goes from Tokyo to Shizenji, after all and one bus from there to the ryokan. Which means that even though she and Rinne are right there on the same train and the same bus, they have to resolutely pretend the other doesn't exist for the three or so hours it takes to get to the Yugashima Onsen. It's all sorts of silly, sure, but it's necessary too - even though they're both as incognito as it gets, this is still beyond risky. Much more so than any of their little outings before. Weirdly enough though, Ai doesn't feel anxious. The flutter in her stomach feels much more like excitement... as far as she can tell, anyway.
But it's not until the empty bus drops them off at the stop that she dares say anything at all. They step from the warm, dry bus into misty, autumnal rain and Ai heaves a big, performative shudder. ]
Jeez, of course it'd rain at a time like this... [ She fumbles with her luggage for a moment before managing to extract an umbrella from her bag that she promptly pops open above the two of them. ] I know it's not a long walk to the ryokan but still!
[ how on earth is she acting like this is normal ]