It was early on a Saturday morning when Chika's phone alarm sounded off. She was still incredibly tired, having went to bed late that night.
Or is it more accurate to say morning?
She had stayed up late talking to You about her exciting journey to Tokyo with Riko today, but completely lost track of time. By the time she realized what time it was, it was past midnight. Chika didn't get to sleep until around two in the morning.
She tapped her phone to turn the blaring sound of the alarm off, and sat up in bed. Chika rubbed her eyes, the darkness of her closed eyelids creating miscellaneous shapes as she rubbed her eyes longer and longer. She was procrastinating at this point--she needed to get up.
When Chika opened her eyes, she still had trouble seeing clearly. She felt her way to her bedside lamp and turned it on, since it was still pretty dark out. Her eyes scrunched up at the sight of the bright light, but eventually started to focus.
Her phone then buzzed. It was a text from Riko.
"Wake up, sleepyhead! If you don't hurry, we'll be late!"
Chika smiled seeing the text from her friend, afterwards letting out a big yawn. She stumbled out of bed to get herself ready for the day.
After brushing her teeth and doing her make-up, it was time to get dressed!
The weather was getting chilly, so Chika decided to wear a plaid button up shirt and some jeans. The shirt was a bright red with various other shades of the colour. She wore red sneakers to match, and a brown beanie to keep her head warm.
Grabbing her phone and shoving it in her purse, she headed out the door to meet up with Riko.
She was standing right outside her door.
"Ah, Chika! I thought you were going to be late."
Chika laughed. "I got your text so I managed to get out of bed..." She trailed off, a yawn escaping from her mouth.
"Did you get to bed on time?" Riko asked.
"Uh..." Chika hesitated. She knew she would get in trouble with Riko if she told her the truth, but she was a poor liar so she decided to not risk it. Riko could be very menacing if she caught you in a lie. "I ended up losing track of time last night, so... no."
Riko sighed, shaking her head. "Chika..."
Chika giggled nervously. "I'll be fine, I'll just rest in the bus ride there!"
"Whatever you say." Riko said, shaking her head again. "Anyway, lets go to the bus stop so we're not late."
Chika followed Riko as she walked ahead at a steady pace to the bus stop at the end of the street. When they arrived, the two sat down on a nearby bench that was located next to the bus shelter.
Within minutes the bus had arrived, and the two girls boarded, finding seats at the back of the train.
The moment they sat down, Chika collapsed her head into Riko's shoulder. She yawned again. "Wake me up when we get to Tokyo, okay Riko?"
Riko let out a small laugh. "Aye aye."
Chika fell asleep almost instantly, small breaths escaping her mouth as she slept. Riko concentrated on these small breaths the entire ride to Tokyo, only changing rhythm when the bus was finally close to the stop she was waiting for.
She pinched Chika's cheek to try to wake her. "Chika, we're almost there. Wake up."
"Mmn." Chika murmured, her body rustling and eventually sitting up. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times before stretching her arms behind her back.
Riko pressed the stop button, and when the bus stopped at the next bus shelter, both Chika and Riko got off the bus, finally arriving in Tokyo.
The sun was incredibly bright by this time of day, and it caused the two girls to wince a little bit, but with time, their eyes got used to the sun's brightness. There was a cool breeze which caused Riko's pink dress skirt to drift up slightly. She patted it down quickly as shivers felt their way down her exposed legs.
"Let's get going before it gets too cold." Riko suggested, pointing in the direction of the nearby mall. "The store is just in there."
"Okay, lets go, Riko!" Chika exclaimed, grabbing Riko's hand and leading her to the place where she had pointed to. Her tiredness had alleviated, albeit temporarily, because of her excitement of being in Tokyo.
When the two arrived at the mall, Riko had to take the lead because Chika would definitely get lost if she tried to navigate the place by herself. The mall was gigantic, spanning four floors total. There were so many stores that Chika had a hard time not going into every single one out of curiosity.
The store they were looking for was a costume store, that had a whole bunch of Halloween sales going on. You asked the two if they could go and pick up some costumes and decorations for the Aqours Halloween party that was in the works.
When the two finally arrived at the store, it was full of people, scrambling to get the sales they so desperately wanted.
"It's... really busy..." Riko noticed, getting nervous about walking into a store full of so many busy people.
"That's Tokyo for you, right? Let's go!" Chika shouted, leading Riko into the store, while Riko herself scrambled to find her courage to face the crowd.
Once inside, Chika followed the signs above each aisle to look for the costume section. After several aisles of candy which she knew Ruby would be very excited about, Chika found the costume section. It was very... bleak. Empty. Most of the costumes had been seized already.
"I guess we were too late..." Riko said, trailing off while looking at Chika.
Chika only smiled, which caught Riko off guard. "We'll just have to look for decorations then! Off we go."
Chika, again, led Riko by the hand down more aisles until they reached the decorations. It was also pretty ravaged, but there was definitely still stuff they could snag.
"Look! There's still a 'Happy Halloween' banner! We could definitely use that." Chika said, letting go of Riko's hand and moving towards the item in question--grabbing it before someone else had the chance to.
Riko looked around, and found a few stickers were still left. There were black cats, witches, and pumpkins. She grabbed a few of each, just in case.
"That seems to be all we can grab, unfortunately." Riko stated, showing Chika the stickers she had grabbed.
"Alright, lets check out then! We'll have to explain to You about the costumes..."
Riko sighed. "Well, maybe we can find some locally. If not, we'll just all have to pitch in to help her make the costumes."
Chika nodded. She started heading towards the very long line at the cash register, and gestured to Riko to follow her.
The two waited in line for about half an hour, until they finally got to the beginning of the line and got checked out.
After leaving the store, the rush of the day left Chika's body and she began to feel tired again. "Rikooo, can we go home now? I'm so tired."
Riko giggled. "Sure, Chika, let's go home. This time, I'll be the one leading."
With that, Riko grabbed a hold of Chika's hand and led her out of the mall and back to the bus stop. It would be a while before the bus came, so the two of them sat on a nearby bench as they waited.
Chika wasted no time resting her head on Riko's shoulder. "Thanks for today, Riko... it was fun."
Riko smiled, patting the top of Chika's head. She leaned into her. "I had fun, too."
The two stayed in that position for a while, peacefully enjoying the comfort and warmth of the other, until the bus finally came.