>>2318989A minute later, the woman was back on her feet and you both cross the street, the traffic light now green again. You had been so free as to extend the protection of your umbrella to the pink-haired girl – not that it helps her much by now, seeing how she is already drenched from head to toe.
“Are you living far from here?” you ask her politely and she shakes her head no, not meeting your gaze.
“Do you want me to walk you home?” another shake – no. You start to wonder if her awkward demeanor actually was a character trait, or if (you) were the problem after all. “Thank you, but… I don’t… want to trouble you… any further,” she quietly adds and you are almost elated that the character trait theory seems to hold true for now.
“Trust me, I’d be much more troubled if I let you off like that”, you insist. Your mother had taught you better, after all. As you reach the other side of the road, the girl seems to have accepted you offer, albeit wordlessly. You stand still for a few seconds, looking left then right. When the girl makes no move to pick either direction, you speak again.
“You have to take the lead here, lady.”
“A-aah! Sorry!” The pink haired woman winces and hastily turns left. After you had walked a block worth of distance in awkward silence, you cough lightly.
“You never gave me your name, by the way. I’ve introduced myself a while ago, you know”, you try to keep your tone as lighthearted as possible, remembering that too much sarcasm had led you to some misunderstandings in the past – especially in this country.
“Uhh…” the girl fumbles a little with the hoodie she is still holding “its… Minato. Minato Aqua.”
“Huh…” you let the name sink in for a bit. Rolling it around in your head, something clicks. Aqua Minato… pink hair with blue strands… air-headedness as main character trait… was there not a streamer like that when you were lurking on YouTube during last year’s pandemic? You share your thoughts and the girl stops in her tracks, visibly panicking.
“T-that’s not me!” To your surprise, she is looking you dead in the eyes now. Interesting, so she *could* do that… if she was riled up enough. It seems that your reaction is not what Aqua was hoping for, so she stutters on. “I s-swear! W-what a coincidence! Ehehe… I hear that a-all the time! H-honestly, I don’t even know what a V-Tuber is, ha-ha…!”
Good lord, the acting. You always thought those girls were playing characters, but you now realize that Aqua here could not possibly play anyone but herself and hope to fool a blind, deaf man with it. Still, the girl’s day had been bad enough, so you drop the topic and simply claim that you must have been mistaken. At least your acting is somewhere around “high school drama club” level, so Aqua seems appeased enough and you continue on your way.
