The next day, Momo woke up hyped and filled with energy. After apologizing to Sana, Momo promised her she would make an effort to act a little more maturely. Sana was also sorry about the way she talked to Momo. Nevertheless, the fight they had served as a wake up call for Momo, making her have a greater awareness of her problematic attitude.

First thing Momo promised to fix – her relationship with Mina. She was more than ready to start it from scratch. Instead of only seeing the bad things she saw the whole time since the first day, Momo wanted to try to see her good side. And, deep down, Momo knew, for sure, Mina wasn't the monster she was trying to portray.

After morning classes, Momo was sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria, along with Sana, while they waited for the other girls to arrive for lunch. Momo knew Mina was going to be there too – she was, after all, going to have lunch with them everyday - a suggestion made by Tzuyu in an effort to have the shy girl fit in. She was totally going to make a good use of that time to talk to her and get to know her better. Not that there was really anyone else to talk to, with Sana and Tzuyu constantly in their own little world and Pinky with her eyes glued on her phone all the time. Momo wondered if Pinky had a special someone herself, but she wouldn't ask.

Momo was checking her twitter feed when she heard steps approaching. In the middle of the chit-chat, she heard Tzuyu's voice say something, followed by a laugh she had never heard before. Momo raised her head and saw something that was just as new to her - Mina's laugh.

The only time Momo saw her real smile was on the day she met her, two days before. But being so caught up in her own perception of her, she hadn't even considered the possibility that she was capable of... laughing. And that laugh was... In fact, if someone asked Momo, in that same moment, to describe Mina's laugh, smile, voice, she would be at a loss of words. Maybe... her gummy smile was cute? Or... her laugh was insanely adorable? Something like that.

Momo didn't realize she had been staring for maybe too long at the red haired girl, ever since she heard their voices coming from slightly afar, headed towards them. Sana stood up to hug her girlfriend and Mina looked straight ahead, finding Momo's eyes still locked on her. Mina's laugh turned into an awkward smile, as she sat on the chair in front of her, taking care not to meet Momo's stare.

"H-Hi, Momo-senpai."

Momo snapped out of her trance when she saw Mina's lips move to let out a barely audible sentence. Really, wasn't she randomly being absorbed into this sort of abstract state way too often lately? She had to work on her attention span.

She blinked a few times.

"Hi, Myoui-chan!" Her voice came out louder and higher pitched than normal.

No matter how many times she actually practiced saying what she just said, no matter how many times she thought it over and thought it was a good idea, Momo couldn't help but regret it the following second. Her face inevitably burned up in embarrassment. What was she thinking, dropping honorifics like that? What an awesome way to start a relationship from scratch – being rude.

The looks on the other girls' faces were making it a lot worse for her. It was as if she had just yelled a curse word in the middle of the cafeteria. Sana was actually trying, really hard, not to laugh, with her eyes widened in surprise. Tzuyu was quite clueless as to why Sana held her laugh, why Momo suddenly looked like she had a tomato for a head, why Mina looked so embarrassed. At most, she was surprised that Momo had dropped formalities with her, but didn't understand the big deal.

Momo laughed nervously and got up, almost bumping into Pinky, who just got there.

"Oh h-hey Pinky! L-Let's grab our food? I'm starving!" She said, now almost stumbling on the chair she was sitting on, as she rushed out from the situation she put herself in.

"What... happened?" Pinky asked while she stood still in her spot, her eyes following Momo through her run to the lunch line.

"Isn't my sister adorable?" Sana said, eyeing Mina from the corner of her eyes, catching the girl faintly smiling with her cheeks still tinged in a rosy pink.

---

All throughout lunch break, Sana didn't stop subtly teasing her sister with provocative, mischievous smirks. Momo had to step on her foot under the table in an attempt to make her stop. Sana was truly enjoying herself despite Momo's retaliation. It had already been hard enough to talk to Mina even though things had always been awkward between them, but having Sana make fun of her when she had made such an effort was especially hurtful.

At least Mina didn't seem uncomfortable with the fact that Momo called her Myoui-chan. Still, she had to, at least, get her permission to do so. No way she was going to do that in front of everyone. Momo was going to wait for Project class to do so.

That lunch break seemed to never end, and Momo just wanted to go to class and dance to forget the embarrassment from before.

When it was finally time, they all gathered in the dance studio. Yuta asked about the progress on their choreographies and dismissed the pairs to smaller dance studios for them to practice. Momo couldn't go without Sana teasing her a bit more.

"Have fun with Myoui-chan!" She whispered in Momo's ear, just before she entered the practice room.

Momo glared at her and finally closed the door. She could still hear Sana laughing. That girl...

But now, the most terrifying moment arrived – being alone with Mina. Maybe going to class and being alone with her wasn't the thing Momo wanted, after all... But she promised she would, at least, make the effort. Momo took a deep breath and filled her mind with positive thoughts. She knew she could do it. She's Hirai Momo, after all.

But before she could, the nerves caught up to Momo, having an effect on her bladder and forcing her to excuse herself to go to the toilet. Momo told Mina she could start warming up and prepare the song meanwhile.

When Momo returned from the bathroom, she was a lot more collected and filled with courage to face Mina and the alone time with her she had ahead. As she was about to open the practice room door, she heard a song playing on the inside. Her hand was glued to the door knob and her ear to the door, so she could properly confirm which song it was. Momo knew it, and she loved it - Sunmi's '24 Hours'. She wondered why Mina was playing that song instead of the one they should be practicing. Maybe she was using it for the warm-up?

Before entering the room, Momo slowly opened the door and peeked inside. She didn't even consider the option that what she was doing was weird. Why did she get the urge to stalk her like that? She did know one thing – she was mesmerized.

Mina overflowed with elegance and beauty, and her expression was flawless, nothing compared to her resting face that Momo knew so well. She looked even more beautiful, if that was actually possible.

Momo's lips were apart, as if she needed to breathe in lots of air to keep her heart beating. But, in fact, she wasn't breathing at all, and even so, her heart was beating faster than it should.

Maybe Mina was in some kind of witch cult or something, because Momo felt as if under the effect of a spell. She saw no other reason for her to have been hypnotized in that way. She didn’t understand how creepy she was being, until finally, Mina noticed her. She stopped, her feet glued to the floor, as her eyes widened.

"What... What are you doing?"

Momo stepped in and closed the door in a quick movement.

"N-Nothing! I was... There was a bug on the door! Yeah, a tiny spider, and I was... observing it. Moving. Wondering if I should kill it or not. But then I didn't because it was actually cute. Have you ever noticed how their tiny little legs move?" She said, walking towards the girl that still hadn't moved an inch yet.

What kind of pathetic excuse was that?! Was that the best she could come up with in panic? She didn't know what she was doing herself! For how long exactly did she stare at Mina?

Momo's heart was still beating fast and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she just wished she could vanish into thin air. Her whole face fumed up, just like at lunch. And her blonde hair only made her look like even redder than she already was.

Before Mina could answer that ridiculous excuse question, Momo dashed to the sound system. She was still so embarrassed and her mind so messy that she didn't notice she just grabbed Mina's phone without permission, and searched through her songs until she found 'Call me Baby'.

"L-Let's start, yeah?" She said, before pressing the play button.

Mina was as confused as Momo (maybe even more) about what had just happened in the last minute, but she didn't say anything.

They already knew most of the choreography. They just needed to refine it and practice the timing together. Since they were dancing a choreography for ten people, they had to adjust almost every part. Momo remade the choreography for the two of them almost by herself. Not because Mina didn't want to help, but Momo was obviously going to take the lead and the other girl seemed to agree to all of her choices.

Momo was trying her best to stay focused, and she was managing to, at least a lot better than the day before. The flow of her moves could be better, but she wasn't making any mistakes or losing track of the song.

After dancing the song for five times in a row, they were panting. When Mina went to play the song again, Momo suggested taking a break before continuing. Mina nodded and sat on the floor with her back leaning on the wall mirror.

It would be awkward if Momo stood still, but it would also be awkward if she sat afar from the red haired girl. So she sat next to her, quite close. Why not?

Then, Momo remembered – she hadn't apologized yet.

"H-Hey..." She said before thinking about how she should say it. Mina moved her head and looked at the blonde. For some kind of reason, that made Momo even more nervous, because Mina normally didn't make eye contact at all. "I'm sorry about... You know, earlier..."

She prayed that that was enough for Mina to understand what she was talking about so . Turns out it wasn't.

"About what?"

Momo bit on her lower lip and looked at her unquiet hands.

"About... calling you Myoui-chan without asking you first."

To her surprise, her ears heard a low giggle, making her curious enough to meet Mina's eyes.

"It's okay." Mina's lips gently said, as they grew into a smile.

That smile...

"S-So, can I call you Myoui-chan?"

"Yes, Momo-senpai."

She had to look away again. Mina had never stared so much into Momo's eyes. She was not used to it at all. But maybe that was a good sign? That Mina was getting more comfortable with Momo, right?

Since they were resting and the conversation had died down a bit, Momo took the chance to check the time on her phone. They still had about an hour until the class was over, so they could rest a little bit more. She noticed, through the corner of her eye, that Mina was staring directly in the direction of her phone.

"What?"

"N-Nothing." Mina quickly looked away, but then returned the look again, somehow cautious. "I was just wondering who that is. Is it your brother?" She pointed at Momo's phone.

Momo let out a short giggle, shaking her head negatively. She turned her phone to Mina so she could properly see her wallpaper, which was the photo of a quite handsome boy wearing a black hoodie.

"It's my boyfriend." She finally explained, a proud smile now growing wider on her lips.

"Oh, I... I see." Mina sighed as she slowly looked down to her hands, her lips turning into a straight line again.

Momo quirked an eyebrow in confusion. She wondered what kind of reaction was that because, for some kind of reason, Mina seemed... disappointed?

---

A/N: KEKEKEKEK don't kill me please D: yeah, her boyfriend is a genderbend Jungyeon AHAHAHAHA but really, doens't she look like a cute boy in that photo? xDD