How to Train Your NEET

It had been a few months since you’d become the manager of Minato Aqua, the reclusive and shy idol of Hololive. It had been an interesting few months fitting into your new role, after all you had never planned or ever believed that you could be a manager of one of the girls as a tech specialist. You had spent more time with Aqua, learning more about one of the resident NEETS of the idol group. But there were a bunch of things you found that you needed to work on with her. Specifically, her problem with dealing with strangers. There couldn’t be a touching moment every time she met a stranger after all.

So you had decided to train her to get used to dealing with people by getting her to order food by herself. You had created the plan with a friend of yours who worked as a waiter for a restaurant that coincidently Aqua loved going to. You would both go in and take your seats, while you would go to the bathroom and your friend would take her order. This would force Aqua to speak up for herself and take a step forward with her courage. As much as you wanted to coddle the girl, you had realized quickly that she needed to learn how to speak for herself. Whenever you would go to order at a fast-food restaurant she would always hide behind you and grab a hold of your jacket, whispering to you her order so quietly that half the time you’d get it wrong. When you went to traditional sit-down restaurants, she would shield herself with her menu and make your order her food for her as well. You honestly didn’t mind it, but you knew it wasn’t healthy for her to rely on others for something like this. Or the copious amounts of Red Bull she drinks.

Knowing your lovable onions stupidity, however, you should’ve known something was bound to wrong.

The plan had started off without a hitch. The two of you took your seats at the table, then after a bit, you had excused yourself to go to the bathroom. You waited in the bathroom stall for the text from your friend that she had ordered the drinks. You weren’t going to let her order your whole meal, just get her a little more used to talking to strangers. A simple drink order wouldn’t hurt her, right?

…Right?

But as the seconds turned to minutes you began to worry. No texts from your friend. Did something go wrong? Your mind raced as you heard a crash like the sounding of glass breaking from the dining room floor. You sped out from the bathroom to see your friend soaked in water, the ground covered in broken glass and scattered silverware. But most importantly, no sight of Aqua. You questioned your friend, who told you that when he tried to press her for a drink order, Aqua panicked and tripped over the water he had brought out for you two. Apparently she had gotten soaked too, and after he had told Aqua of your plan, in a fit of embarrassment and tears, had fled the restaurant. You shook your head and apologized to your friend and ran out of the establishment, ignoring the curious gazes of the restaurant goers as you ran to the one place you knew she would go. Her apartment.

Once you got there you instantly could tell that she was there from the driblets of water on the floor. You knocked on the door and received no reply. You knocked again and again, pleading with her to open the door. Eventually you just stopped. You pressed your back against the front of her door and slid down till you were on the floor. As you pressed the back of your head against the wood, you mentally scolded yourself for what you had done. You should’ve done it a different way. No, you shouldn’t have done it at all. Now she would hate you for what you did. You killed not only killed one of the best friendships you ever had, you had killed your job aswe-

Your thoughts were interrupted as the door opened and caused you to fall backwards and hit your head on the wooden floor of her house. Looking up, you saw Aqua looking at you with a mischievous look. Her victorious smug look, however, was ruined by her soaked clothes, making it difficult for you to take her seriously.

“That’s for that little stunt you pulled! Sheesh, for you to do something like that… just for me… it does kinda make me happy that you care that much for me though…” she said timidly as she scratched her head. You smiled in response as you let out a sigh of relief. Despite the pout she had on her face now, she was the same idiot you had come to care for. You pulled yourself up from the floor and fully apologized to her, saying how you would take her to another restaurant of her choosing  for penance. Seeing that she was content, you said goodnight and was about to leave when she hugged you from behind.

“Just so you know... I wasn’t mad at you. I was just… I was just scared. Scared that you weren't there to help me. Like you helped me work through my emotions when you came to fix my streaming equipment. I couldn’t be actually mad at someone like you…” she said in a voice so low that you could barely hear her. When you turned around you saw that her cheeks were fully flushed and eyes staring towards the ground. You quickly reciprocated the hug, saying how you appreciated her and thought of her as a great friend. After this you both said your goodbyes, but you noticed a look of… dissatisfaction on her face as she disappeared behind the closing door.

Did you say something wrong? Maybe she was still mad at you? You couldn’t really tell. Reading girls had never been a strong suit of yours. But in any case, you had confirmed one thing through today's events…

… that Minato Aqua was someone special to you.