Idol Time Pripara

His/Her Sorrow

A/N - I suggest you watch the Idol Time PriPara episode 20 to have some context for this chapter. Either way, enjoy! :)

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"Let's see what should I — oh, this would be perfect !" Laala said as she browse through the shelves.

Right when the sun was about to set and PriPara started to become empty, Laala use this opportunity to sneak out to a convenience store and buy an extra birthday gift for Yui. She decided on an onigiri seasoning that Yui had been dying to have. After that, she head to the cashier to pay for what she bought.

"Manaka-san?" A voice called her from the back.

"Yumekawa-san! What a coincidence!" Laala greeted him, "why are you here?"

"Bought some snack for me and the guys," he answered, "you?"

"Buying some snacks for tomorrow's trip and Yui's extra gift."

"That would be ¥800," the store manager said for Laala to give.

Shougo noticed one of her purchases and involuntarily said audibly, "having trouble sleeping?"

Laala flinched a little before giving him a smile for an answer and walked away.

"Hey," he stopped her, "do you mind waiting for me?"

"Sure," she nodded and smile.

The two idols then walk under the last light of the day. Both were silent; one deciding whether to bring up the item that she just bought, while the other just enjoying the calming sky.

Laala let out a big sigh to break the silence, "what a day, huh."

Shougo snapped back from his thoughts, "yeah," his head replayed the chaos that happened during the day, "that baka definitely owes me one."

Laala laughed. Shougo looked at the girl next to him. Her pigtails swayed by the gentle evening breeze and her laugh put some butterflies in his stomach.

"Yeah," she smiled shyly, "you were a real hero today."

This made Shougo's face painted red. He had to look away from her to hide the mess he was in.

"But I shouldn't judge, I'm too quite a handful," Laala smiled at him.

Shougo trying to hide his blush, chuckled, "What were you two trying to do anyway."

"We were helping the Purano Cafe and we ran out of Yumeprika," she answered briefly.

"You two seem to contribute a lot to the PriCafe," Shougo acknowledged, "I heard from some of the girls at school that you two cook some of the menus too."

"Yeah, Yui contributed her various flavor of onigiri, while I made some pizza, my mom's specialty—," Laala suddenly stopped, "sorry."

"What's wrong?" Shougo asked, noticing the girl slowing down.

"Nothing, never mind," she dismissed and walk away.

"Hey," Shougo reached for her shoulder, "you can tell me."

Laala contemplated before answering, "I had a fight with my mom," she explained slowly, "I don't often share my problems with anyone — I keep it bottled up if not solve it by myself. Because of this, I lashed out at my mom. So what used to be our daily bickering, turned into a big fight."

Laala turned her head to look at Shogo. He looked like he was listening carefully.

"And then what happened?"

"Nothing," she answered, "I haven't talked to her since then."

"You haven't apologized?"

She turned away, "I think I hurt her very badly."

Silent fell between them. Laala dreaded it. 'What is he thinking?' 'he must think I'm pathetic or a bad person.' 'I should've kept my mouth shut.' 'but that look when I was telling him my problem... he was really listening to me.' 'But what if—'

"Yui and I fight a lot as you know," Shougo stopped her thoughts, "Remember when you asked me if I hate her? I wasn't. I was jealous of her. She keeps stealing everything from me and since our parents always favor her over me, she always got a pass. Because of that, I told her to back off, and - Yui being Yui - she argued back. Ever since then we fought and fought to the point that we don't even want to acknowledge each other's existence," He explained honestly, "But today I realized, you were right about what you said to me."

Laala looked at him and blinked, confused about what he was referring to.

"When you told me, younger siblings like to look up to their older ones," He reminded her, "When we were in the rice field, we had a talk. She told me she wanted to become an idol because of me," he looked down remembering the moment, "And you were right, I did teach her to dream. And hearing that gives me closure and understanding of what kind of person Yui is."

Laala smiled knowing she helped him. His eyes were sparkling with so much pride rather than the tiredness he usually wear when his sister was mentioned.

"Maybe, if you talk to your mom it will do the same to you," he slowly suggested, "I mean, I will still argue with that idiot for being unbearably annoying, but at least I know how that stubborn girl feels about me."

Laala smiled.

"I think you just need to talk to her," he continued, "She is your mom after all. I'm sure she will forget all about it."

Laala raised her head to the sky. The descending sun created pink and purplish colors for the clouds as the wind move them slowly. It looked so serene. "Yeah, maybe she will."

The two of them continued their walk until - before they knew it - they arrived in front of their respective idol store. They both looked at each other and smiled.

"Thank you, for listening."

"Hey, don't worry about it," He reassured her, "I told you, Laala, if ever you need anything, you can tell me."

Laala's eyes widen, "Did you just--"

"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean--"

"No, it's okay! I don't mind," She blushed, "is it okay if I call you by your first name?"

Shougo blushed, "yeah, of course!"

The two chuckled and smiled at each other.

"Ja, Shougo, mata ne!"

"Umm, oyasumi, Laala."

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A/N - Am I doing okay with writing the romance part of this story? I hope I'm doing okay... I think I told you guys before that I'm not that great at writing romance. But I hope you enjoy this little fluff chapter. 

Look forward to the next chapter! :)