Momo was lucky no classes she had on Friday involved dancing, or else Mina would have forced her to stay home. Rest, ice and Mina's massage did wonders to her ankle. Even insisting she was alright, she promised Mina she wouldn't move her foot for the whole day. But Sana (like in any other Friday afternoon), would be hanging out with Tzuyu, so it to be home alone with an injury, without anyone to help her accomplish everyday tasks. When it was time to drop Mina off at her house, Momo took the chance to make a bold request.

"Myoui-chan, do you mind if I keep you company today?"

---

Just like the day before, Momo sat on the couch, her foot on the footrest. It was only the third time she was in Mina's house, but even so, Momo felt like she could make herself at home. Sitting next to her, watching TV, laughing and chatting, felt natural to her, to the point it started to feel like a habit. Would she be able to let go of that when her foot healed and Mina was no longer in danger? What excuse would she use to stay with Mina then?

Momo's phone rang, interrupting Mina's story about when she first did a perfect pointe. She muttered a short apology, taking her phone from her pocket and swiping to answer, neglecting to see who was calling.

"Hello?"

"Hi Momo, care to open the door? What are you even doing, I've rang the bell a thousand times now! I thought something had happened to you, with you being injured and all."

Momo felt her heart sink. She took her free hand to her wide open mouth.

"Momo, can you hear me?" Momo went so quiet the person on the other side even thought he'd lost connection.

"Y-Yes." She said, making a huge effort for the voice to come out.

"Are you going to open the door or are you going to keep me waiting? Are you playing hard to get?" He asked with a smile on his voice.

"Jungwon, I'm..." Momo glanced sideways at Mina. She had her eyes on the TV. Momo took a deep breath. "I'm not home. I'm so sorry, I completely forgot you were visiting today..."

There was a moment of silence where Momo could only hear her heart thumping and Jungwon's sigh.

Friday was the day they never failed to be together. Because Momo was recommended to let her foot rest, Jungwon had promised to keep her company at her house. She couldn't believe she forgot about it. The second she saw Mina after class, anything related to Jungwon had been swept to an unaccessible part of her mind. Even worse than forgetting about what he said, she forgot about him. This was disastrous.

"Where are you then?" He finally said. Momo couldn't tell if he was mad or not.

"At... Myoui-chan's house."

"I see."

"I'm really sorry Jungwon... I gave her a ride home after lunch and I thought I should... stay."

"It's okay. I'll go skate or something." Momo could hear footsteps over the line.

"I-I wish I could skate with you! But I need to rest my ankle for tomorrow."

"I know, I wouldn't make you skate though, I know you need to rest. That's why I was going to stay home with you, but it seems Mina can do that job for me." Now she knew he was upset. Who wouldn't be... She sighed and closed her eyes, thinking about how she should answer that, but he proceeded. "Call me when you're home. Have fun with Myoui-chan and tell her I said hi."

"O-Okay, I'll call you la-" But he hang up. Really? Was that necessary? Momo HATED people hanging up on her face.

Momo clicked her tongue and shook her head, throwing her phone carelessly to the couch, mumbling a 'you bet I will'.

"Everything's alright?"

"Y-Yeah! It's just that I forgot that Jungwon would come to my house to keep me company, and he was at my door now..." Momo laughed nervously.

"Oh... Maybe it's better if you go. I don't want you to get in trouble with your boyfriend." Mina said softly.

"N-No! I wanna stay with you!" Mina slowly turned her head and met Momo's widened eyes. "I-I mean, I can be with him later. And you know I don't want you to be alone."

Mina stared at Momo for a couple seconds and looked back at the TV.

"Okay. If that's what you want."

Momo swore she saw a faint smile on Mina's lips.

---

After she gave Momo a heavenly ankle massage session, Mina suggested they watched a movie. It was halfway through now, and even though Momo was enjoying it, she felt the sleepiness weigh in on her eyes. She tried to fight it, but that couch seemed too comfortable for someone to watch a movie without falling asleep on it. Plus, it wasn't as if she was sitting – more like laying.

The sound of the people arguing on the television started fading away, as Momo gave up and surrendered to the sleepiness.

She opened her eyes, trying to figure out how much time passed since she fell asleep. Ahead of her, the credit roll dragged across the screen. She had lost the ending.

Mina was much closer to her than she remembered. So close their arms touched, and her head rested on her shoulder. Momo blinked and found the girl peacefully asleep. Momo took the chance to marvel at her angelic sleeping face.

Her heart thumped harder on her chest as a natural reaction, looking closely at Mina's parted lips. An unthinkable thought flashed in Momo's mind, making her shake her head so much she felt dizzy. She let her head hit the couch, shutting her eyes, trying to shake the thought away and shove it on the forbidden-thoughts area of her brain.

Momo let her head fall on top of Mina's. A few red hair strands tickled Momo's nose. The sweet fruity scent of her shampoo had a similar effect to a sleeping drug, as Momo drifted back to sleep, letting herself be enough of a sinner to enjoy that thought – even if for just a moment.

---

Momo laid on her bed, listening to music on her phone and staring at the ceiling, waiting for Sana to arrive. She needed to talk to her, to tell her the conversation she had with Jungwon just a little while ago. A knock on the door snapped her out of her deep introspection.

"Come in." Momo took her earphones off her ears and sat on the bed.

Sana entered, greeting her sister with a smile, then closing the door and sitting beside her.

"How was dinner?" Momo asked.

"I can ask the same." Sana smirked.

The corner of Momo's lips subtly curled up and her cheeks gained a different shade of pink. Momo and Mina woke up with Mina's mother arriving home, and since it was late, her mother invited Momo to have dinner with them. Momo thought about how she promised Jungwon she would meet him later. After such an invitation, he would obviously have to wait until after dinner. Momo called him, telling him about her plans, assuring him she would be home right after dinner time so he could meet her there.

"It was great, actually. Her mother is great company and her food is delicious!" Sana laughed. Of course Momo would talk about the food. "She seems like a really strong person... She keeps a smile on her face even though she knows her husband is out there looking for them again. Myoui-chan is lucky to have such a mother." She finished with a smile.

"With everything that went on their lives, it's only normal that she's a strong person. When you have someone you want to protect more than anything, you become the strongest person you can ever be."

That was exactly how Momo felt about Mina... She felt her ears getting warmer and a shy smile forming on her lips, as her eyes wandered down to stare at her unquiet hands.

"You wanted to talk about something, right?" Sana broke the silence, making Momo look up at her again.

"Oh, y-yeah, right."

Talking about Mina made her ironically forget about Jungwon once more, and how the conversation with Sana was supposed to be about that same incident in the first place.

"Thing is... This has never happened before." Momo still faced down at her hands, ashamed of herself as she spoke. "Especially on a Friday, it's our day of the week and I completely forgot about him!"

"Hey, it's okay." Sana comforted her sister, grabbing her hands. "You didn't do it on purpose. And with everything that's happening with Mina, it's okay if you want to be with her and keep her company."

"Maybe that's normal, but it's not normal that I forgot about my boyfriend."

"Is he mad?"

"No... He was here just a bit ago, we talked, I apologized again, he said it was fine and he was not mad."

"So, don't beat yourself up over that!"

"How can I not? Imagine you were going to spend the afternoon with Tzuyu at her house and when you were already there, she tells you she forgot about you and she's with someone else! Wouldn't you be mad?!"

Sana sighed. She imagined that happening and well...

"See?"

"But he said he's not mad, let's trust him. He also knows what's happening with Mina, so I'm sure he understands."

Momo sighed. Sana was right.

"It's getting late, we need to get lots of rest for tomorrow! How's your ankle? Will you be able to perform?"

"Of course! I barely feel any pain anymore. We're gonna slay the showcase tomorrow!" Momo felt hyped for the next day already.

"Alright Momo, see you tomorrow, rest well." Sana kissed her sister's forehead.

"You too baby sis." Momo smiled, watching her sister leave to her own bedroom.

She wasn't that tired, but she knew she had to sleep. The next day would be really important and she needed to be one hundred and ten percent ready for it. Her ankle healed just in time, and Momo was sure it was because of Mina's massages. Just when the red haired girl's smile crossed her mind, making her smile along, her phone vibrated on the night stand. Her smile grew wider reading the text message she just received.

[22:48 ] Myoui-chan
Momo-senpai! Make sure to sleep a lot and be careful with your ankle! Let's give our best tomorrow! Good night ~ <3

Momo let her body fall onto the mattress, letting the smile fill her face as she thought about what to say. It should be an easy text, but why was it so difficult? She wrote, erased everything, rolled on her bed and wrote to erase again, time and time again. It seemed like she couldn't find the right words, even thought she knew it was just a simple good night text. She needed to keep it simple.

[22:55] Momo-senpai
Myoui-chan! You too make sure to sleep well! We're crushing it tomorrow, I'm sure of it! Good night and sweet dreams! I lov-

Wait, no, what? Why were her fingers typing that? Erase that part, now. Replace it with a heart, just like she did, and press the send button. Why did it seem so difficult?! After what it seemed a giant effort, she pressed it.

Momo turned off the light. She closed her eyes and thought about the performance of the next day. She pictured herself and Mina on stage, dancing to who knows how many people, and everyone clapping and cheering for them. Then, off stage, Mina hugged her, smiling that smile of hers and kissed her cheek. They locked eyes and... Momo fell asleep, hoping she would dream about what would happen next in her imagination.

---

Momo couldn't express in any way how beautiful Mina's stage ensemble was. Everything, from her waved hair, her makeup, her black outfit, her bare feet, her expression, her presence. Dancing to 24 Hours with Mina had been the highlight of Momo's career thus far. Mina's presence on stage was no joke. Anyone who looked at her wouldn't be able to drift her gaze from her. Even Momo herself had to make a huge effort not to look at her during the performance. Her whole being overflowed elegance. Momo felt almost invisible next to her, but at the same time, Mina gave her so much confidence, like no one ever did on stage.

After their performance was Tzuyu, Pinky and Sana's time to shine dancing to Sunmi's Full Moon. Off stage, it felt like a déjà vu of her thoughts the night before. Catching on her breath and smiling, her eyes were fixed on Mina, waiting for the hug like she knew was going to happen.

And it did. But it was Momo who hugged Mina, and not the opposite, like she imagined it to be. Mina seemed surprised and it took her a couple of seconds to hug Momo back, wrapping her arms around her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder. They stood like that for a bit, feeling each other's rising chests, not sharing any words. What would they say, anyway? She had no idea why she hugged Mina in the first place. She just couldn't stop the urge of doing so.

Victoria congratulated everyone on the unpreceded success of the showcase, her smile showing how proud she was of them all, especially Mina, since it was her first time dancing with them and she did so well. Victoria was sure more people would join their academy after they saw what her pupils could do.

After changing from their performance outfits to comfortable clothes, everyone went outside to meet their families and friends. Momo's face froze in a faint smile, observing Mina's mother hug her and kiss her cheek. What a beautiful sight... to be cut by two hands in front of her eyes.

"Hi Jungwon." Momo said, turning to face him.

"Hi." He smiled and leaned to plant a light kiss on her lips.

Momo felt her cheeks warming up and quickly looked back over her shoulder. Mina was still talking with her mother, so, no, she didn't see it. What if she did? She knew Momo had a boyfriend. Why was that a problem? Or why was Momo worried about Mina seeing it or not?

"You were great." Jungwon said grabbing her hands, snapping Momo back to reality. She looked at him and smiled shyly.

"Myoui-chan was better. She has much more charisma and stage presence than I do." His eyebrows rose with Momo's sincere statement. "But it's okay! It went great, there was no mistakes and I loved performing with her. We look really good together, right?"

Jungwon was somehow in shock. Who was that Momo and what did she do with his girlfriend? The real Momo wasn't one to be humble and accept someone else doing better than her. In Jungwon's opinion they were both good, but of course his eyes would be on Momo all the time. Since when had Momo stopped worrying about not being number one at everything she attempted to do?

"Y-Yeah! I mean, you both dance really well and you do have some kind of... chemistry together." He said and quickly added. "On stage, of course."

Momo giggled. Of course it was on stage, what else could he be talking about? She stopped giggling and looked somber all of a sudden. 

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah! I'm just tired." She forced a smiled.

"Do you wanna go home?"

"Oh, no, not yet. We usually get together backstage after our performances, to talk about what went well and what didn't... stuff like that."

He nodded and looked at his watch.

"Okay, then I'll be going now. I wish I could have dinner with you, but my sister is going to have dinner with us tonight!" He said in a mix of disappointment for leaving Momo and excitement for seeing his sister.

"Oh, tell her I said hi! And how about we have dinner tomorrow?"

Jungwon smiled and pulled her gently into his embrace.

"That would be great."

Momo felt good, secure, and comfortable in Jungwon's arms, but somehow, it was no longer such a pain to break away from his embrace and say goodbye to him.

When he started walking away, Momo turned to see the frown on Mina’s face, staring straight in her direction. She saw it. Mina saw them kissing.

---

After a very fulfilling group talk over the showcase, it was time to go home. It was almost dinner time and everyone was exhausted. Sana would be taking Tzuyu to have dinner somewhere (Tzuyu was such a spoiled girl... Sana's fault though) and that meant Momo was going home by herself.

“Why don’t you have dinner with Mina?” Sana whispered.

Momo didn’t know what to answer that. She wanted to, actually, but she didn’t have the guts to ask her. But why would she need guts to ask her such a normal question? Didn't they have dinner together just the day before?

“I... Think I’ll pass that.” Momo waved her hands in front of her body, aware of how silly she looked for being embarrassed of it.

Sana shrugged and kissed her sister's cheek goodbye, grabbing Tzuyu's hand. Momo waved and watched them leave.

Momo looked around to find Mina right next to her. Since when she was there?

“M-Momo-senpai, thank you so much for today. You were r-really good and I had lots of fun. Let’s perform together again.” Mina said with a bow.

“O-Of course we will! I would love that.”

They smiled at each other, but... Mina's smile. The one so different from her usual genuine and charming gummy smile.

“S-So, I’ll be going. My mom is waiting for me in the car.”

No taking Mina home today.

“Oh... O-Okay.”

“See you on Monday then, Momo-senpai.”

“See you, Myoui-chan. Have a good night.”

“You too.” Mina said, and took her leave.

Momo wanted to grab her hand and stop her from leaving. But she didn’t. She didn’t have a reason to do so.

The only reason she could think of was that she didn’t want Mina to leave her. Because it was so hard, so painful to see her leave. And why wasn’t when it was Jungwon? Why she didn’t feel empty when he pulled away from a hug, why she didn't feel lonely when he left, but she did with Mina?

Momo was scared of what would become of her if she gave such importance to such thoughts, so, as usual, she threw them to the very back of her mind.

Today, she was driving as if in autopilot. She usually enjoyed every bit of adrenaline and freedom riding her bike made her feel, savoring the wind blowing on her face as she sped through the road. But not today. Today, Mina was all over her mind. Her smile, her eyes, her voice, her laugh. The way they locked eyes, the way they were so comfortable talking with each other and confessing things they could barely tell anyone else. The performance they just had, how stunning Mina looked, the hug backstage, the frown on her face after seeing her with Jungwon and the fake smile.

Trying to push away her thoughts wasn't working anymore. At times, Momo felt like she was starting to listen to the intrusive voice in her head, the one who told her how much she liked – no, loved – Mina so much. And in the next second, she knew that she didn't and she couldn't. But friends love each other, right? That's right, she loved Mina – as a close friend! But was it normal to feel guilty about letting your boyfriend kiss you in front of your friends? Was it normal for a friend to look like Mina did after she saw them kiss?

Momo felt like pulling her own hairs out, one by one. And she might have, if she wasn't riding her bike. Her mind was racing, even faster than her bike and her own heartbeat. In an automatic response, her hand turned the accelerator handle, her bike speeding up past what she knew was the legal speed limit. Unfortunately, she forgot she was approaching a zebra cross and was supposed to stop. Similarly, at the very same time, someone forgot they were supposed to look either way before crossing and decided to launch themselves at the road.

Momo snapped out of her inner conflict as panic took over her body, more and more with every inch the bike got closer to the person. Her whole body froze, making her almost lose balance, and with that, she was back to reality. She finally hit the brake with all the strength she had, but it was too late. The person – a girl – turned her head at the loud, screeching sound of the tires scratching the road. Everything happened so fast, yet time seemed to slow down.

Their eyes met, and the girl screamed, gasping for air. She tripped on her own foot, falling on her , as she watched the horrible scene in front of her.

Momo was aware that going at that speed and attempting to brake so abruptly would result in her losing control of her bike. But if she didn't do it, they would both be badly hurt. At least, she dodged the girl just in time and she wouldn't be hurt. The bike swung from side to side until she was finally projected, like an old doll thrown away by a kid. Her body rolled too many times to count on the rough asphalt floor. The loud thunk of her head, under the helmet, hitting the ground, produced a buzzing sound, echoing in her brain before everything started becoming foggy and she felt her consciousness drift away. But before she succumbed, she heard one last cry.

"MOMO-SENPAI!"

---

A/N: PLEASE DON'T HATE ME ;__;
I'm sorry for taking so long to update, I finally have a new job! :D  Please, be patient with me, and I'll promise I'll update faster next time!
I know, Momo doesn't deserve any of this. But for the sake of drama the story, this had to happen C: