// “I’m stuck in the dark but you’re my flashlight.”

    It was ridiculously annoying. The fact that Mina had no idea how to communicate properly in a place that she had to now call her home was annoying. Not only did she receive countless glares from the people who actually knew the language, but she’s also tired of having to switch between training and study each day. She’s physically and emotionally tired. Dance was perhaps the only thing she could do properly there.

    But, sometimes Mina thinks that she can’t even dance. She’s often times sitting in the middle of the practice room all alone, crying - Mina didn’t believe she was worth much. She didn’t think that she could make it in the business. Definitely not when she could barely speak the language. As much as she wanted to become an entertainer, she thinks that maybe the path just wasn’t for her. Maybe she should just return back to Japan and go back to school like she had intended to had she not been accepted into the entertainment.

    When she walks back to dorm at the wee hours of the morning all alone, Mina looks up and sees the stars but also sees the eternal darkness they were plastered upon. She only notices the darkness, though.

    She goes to bed and tries not to cry too loud for other trainees were already fast asleep. Sometimes she has to go to the bathroom because it was too much. She missed her real home. She missed her parents. She missed her friends. What was she even doing here?

    Mina was focused intently, her eyes staring into the mirror in front of her as she dances. She was on the verge of tears, her frustration being held in as she tried to get this choreo done correctly. She miscalculates a step and falls down, the tears already escaping her eyes.

    The loud music shuts off all of a sudden and Mina lifts her head immediately, eyes shifting over to the stereo. She’s surprised to see a girl in black shorts and a crop top with her long brown hair flowing down her back. She’s kneeling down next to Mina in less than a few seconds.

    “Are you alright?”

    She nods and uses the sleeves of her sweater to wipe her tears away. “I’m fine.” She answers, her words a bit slow.

    “Are you a new trainee?”

    Mina nods again, wiping the last of her tears. The pretty stranger smiles and Mina’s heart skipped a beat.

    “What’s your name?” She asks. “I’m Momo Hirai.”

    The girl who was no longer crying brightens up a bit at the familiar sound of a surname. “I’m Mina Myoui.”

    “Japanese!” Momo exclaims brightly, easily switching over to her mother tongue. “You shouldn’t cry, you know? It doesn’t do much.” She’s still smiling and Mina couldn’t help but return the favor.

    She sniffles. “I try not to but it just happens.”

    Momo hums and tilts her head, placing her cheek onto her knee. “Why are you here, anyways? It’s late.”

    “Because I have to study during the day.”  Mina felt comfortable speaking to the other girl. Maybe it was only because she got to speak Japanese again, but maybe it was because Momo was Momo.

    Momo’s eyes filled with sympathy. “You don’t get much rest, do you?”

    A small shake of the head was given.

    Momo stands and reaches a hand down to Mina. “Here, come on.” Mina blinks, taking Momo’s hand as the girl helps her up. “I’ll walk you back to the dorms so you won’t be lonely.”

    “But I’m not finis - “

    “You deserve some rest, Mina.” Momo tugs her towards the door. “You have bags under your eyes.”

    Mina’s free hand reaches up to the skin beneath her eyes. Momo giggles.

    “I’m kidding, but you really will have bags under your eyes if you continue like this with no rest.”

    Mina shoves her playfully and Momo only laughs a bit more. An overwhelming warmth spreads throughout Mina’s body - the combination of Momo’s laugh and her warm fingers interlocking with her own brought out an emotion Mina hadn’t truly felt for a long time - happiness.

    They walk the short distance back to dorm together in comfortable silence. When Mina looks up at the sky that night, although it might’ve been just her imagination, but the stars seemed to shine brighter than they’ve ever had.    

    “Here’s your stop.” Momo smiles, letting go of Mina’s hand. “Go in and get some sleep, okay?”

    Mina teeters her weight between her two legs before biting her lip and wrapping her arms around Momo’s waist. “Thank you.” She mumbles, exiting the hug as quickly as she had initiated it. She bows a little before turning and entering the building.

    Mina doesn’t see much of Momo but when she does, they’re both busy with their own schedules, and it saddens her. As much as it saddens her, it cheers her up even more to simply see the girl smile at her when they pass by each other. There was just something about Momo that made her happy.

    She’s laid on the practice room floor staring up at the ceiling the next time Momo walks in. Momo was already laying down next to her before Mina even got to attempt to sit up.

    “Nice view, eh?” She says playfully, turning her head to look at Mina who was already staring at her. “Are you taking a break?”

    “Yeah.” Mina lifts an arm and slings it over her forehead. “It’s too hot and the floor is cold.”

    Momo turns to her side, propping up her elbow. “We have an A/C.” She states, using her other hand to point.

    Mina blushes instantly, covering her face with both hands. “Oh my god.”

    Momo giggles and Mina hears the shuffling of her clothes as she stands up.

    She’s too busy trying to get over her embarrassment to look at her.

Momo clears . “Get up. I wanna dance with you.”

    Mina peeks in between the cracks of her fingers. “You want to dance with me?” She repeats.

    “Yes.” Momo nods. “You’re a dancer, aren’t you?”

    Momo compliments her a lot. Mina started to actually believe her.

    “You dance really well.”

    “You’re better.”

    “I’m not talking about myself, Mina.”

    Mina starts to enjoy dancing as much as she had before she started training.

        She had never seen Momo in any other mood besides happy. That’s why it surprised Mina so much when Momo had walked into the practice room with a tissue in hand, constant sniffles coming from her nose. Mina walks over quickly to where Momo was setting her things down.

“Momo, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Momo waves her off. “It’s just allergies.”

“But it’s winter…”

“I’m allergic to snow.” Momo mumbles, using her palm to wipe the tears away. She avoids Mina’s eyes and turns her back to the younger girl. Mina, feeling dejected, takes a step back.

“You can tell me…”

Momo doesn’t respond.

They dance with a heavy atmosphere in the practice room. Mina stops mid-way in their choreo, moving away from Momo with a sigh. “Let’s just head back.”

“No.” Momo refuses. “We have to perform this in two days. We can’t just stop.”

“You’re upset at something and I’m not in a good mood. We’re not going to get anywhere with this.” Mina starts to collect her things. Momo tightens her jaw.

“Fine. You can go. I’ll stay.”

Mina walks home that night and she couldn’t find any of the stars that shone brightly even though they were in clear view.

    The guilt eats at her when she stands in front of the dorm building. Momo was crying. And she just left her.

    What kind of friend was she?

She’s back at the practice room in record timing. Momo was sitting against the large mirror that took up the whole wall, face in her hands. Mina sits next to her and slips an arm around her waist.

“My mom called.” Momo sniffs. “She was crying before she even called me.” She shifts her head to lean on Mina. “I miss her.”

Mina doesn’t know how to respond so she just holds the girl in her arms as she cries.

They don’t dance that night.

“I’m tired.” Mina groans as she sits on the couch at the corner of the room. Momo sits on the ground and rests her head on Mina’s bare thighs.

“Let’s just take a break.” Momo closes her eyes.

Mina plays with the girl’s ponytail. She continues to lazily run her fingers through Momo’s silky hair as the older girl hums a tune to a song Mina didn’t know. It sounded pleasant.

“What are you humming to?” She pauses her hand movements.

“Nothing.” Momo shakes her head, opening her eyes. “Why’d you stop?”

Mina smiles widely at the question. She pulls Momo onto the couch and the older girl lays on her back with her head on Mina’s thighs.

“We should go to Japan together one day.” Momo’s eyes were closed again. Mina allowed her eyes to freely take in every feature of the girl laying down.

“We should.” She agrees, using her thumb to move a stray hair away from Momo’s forehead.

Another silence passes between them.

“Do you think that we’ll debut together?” Momo asks quietly. Mina in a breath.

“I don’t know.”

Momo shifts and opens her eyes. “Promise me that we’ll still be close even if we don’t debut together?” She asks, raising her hand with her pinky outstretched. Mina smiles albeit a bit sadly, pinky wrapping around Momo’s.

“I promise.”

“Don’t go back on that promise.” Momo warns her in a playful tone, though Mina could hear the thin layer of worry underneath the playfulness.

“I won’t.” Mina wasn’t so sure, though.

Momo could tell. “At least promise me that you won’t forget me.”

“I won’t.” That, Mina was sure of.

Well, how could she forget the person who helped her strive to become better? How could she forget the person who helped her when she almost gave up?

She smiles and leans down, placing her lips on Momo’s forehead. The older girl gives a content smile, eyes closing again.

“I won’t.” Mina repeats.