AiRina

AiRina is the femslash ship between Rina Tennoji and Ai Miyashita from the Love Live! fandom.

Canon
The two are close friends. Ai is Rina's only friend in the beginning.

The ship started to sail in episode 4 of the anime. Ai and Rina are shown talking on a bench while Rina pets a cat. They talk about joining the school idol club, and in the next scene they show up to the club room together.

Ai does most of the talking for Rina, par her introduction and a few words. Ai asks Rina if she's excited, and she replies with a quiet "Yes". Ai later says she's never seen Rina have this much fun before, and that she's having loads of fun as well. Rina then says she's not very good at expressing herself, showing how much Ai knows about her. After Ai's concert, Rina says she feels fired up.

In episode 6, Rina is first shown making friends with Ai. She is initially intimidated and calls her scary. Ai shows she's nothing to be afraid of, saying she just wanted to cheer her up because she looked down. Ai sees Rina's coupon for "Joypoli", calling it super cool. Rina offers it to Ai asks her to go with her friends, and then Ai tells Rina to go with her. Rina monologues on how Ai was the first person she was able to connect with.

Ai is the first one to help Rina when she wants to change her character. Later when Yuu, Ayumu, and Ai go to her house, she tells them that she is thankful for them. Ai pulls her into a hug and promises to make her concert a success.

When Rina is feeling down about not being able to express herself, Ai and the rest of her idol group come to her apartment to make sure she's okay. Rina opens the door for them. Ai comes up to Rina, and Rina tells Ai she's sorry for not going to practice. Ai asks her what's wrong, Rina responds by saying she was so embarrassed with herself. She talks about her struggles with making friends in middle school, up until she met Ai. Rina's friends encourage her. Ai cuts in, hugging her. With the support from Ai and her friends, she performs the concert.

Fanon
This ship sailed as a result of Ai's supportiveness of Rina and helping her crack out of her shell and make new friends. Popular with Nijigasaki fans, some fans may prefer them platonically instead. The ship is rivaled by the two lesstwoular ships Karinai and Miarina. However, this ship is still more popular. It is currently the fifth most written ship in the Nijigasaki ship tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION