Airika

Airika is the femslash ship between Rika Kawai and Ai Ohto from the Wonder Egg Priority fandom.

Canon
When they first met, Rika asked Ai to give her money to buy eggs. At first Rika seemed blunt. She was arrogant and judgmental, but slowly she became way more caring and nice towards Ai. They quickly became close friends, they even had a sleepover in the third episode.

During the third episode, it is shown that Rika is trying to impress Ai so that she will think of her as 'cool'. Later on in the episode, Chiemi is brought up. Rika initially lies about how she truly feels, acting out rather rude and cold towards what Chiemi meant to her. However, Ai notices the cuts on Rika's arm and confronts Rika telling her to tell the truth about her feelings, as well as that she wants to hear the truth about what happened to Chiemi. This shows that she knows Rika is playing an act to hide her true feelings. At first Rika brushes it off and tells Ai that it's none of her business, but Ai persists that Rika tells her, and surprisingly, Rika gives in rather quickly, showing how Rika's trust is beginning to grow stronger with Ai.

Ai and Rika are the only ones who fought together. When Rika was struggling, Ai was the only one who could comfort her. She trusts Ai a lot and Ai knows that, this is shown in the scene were Ai is trying to make Rika feel better. Ai is the only person that Rika feels comfortable to show weakness in front of. As of the approach of this episode, it's obvious to see that she had developed a soft spot for Ai. Rika knew and hoped that Ai would chase after her when she ran away, and she was happy when she saw that Ai did actually go after her. When she reached Rika, Ai even stated, "I thought you wanted me to." which shows that Ai pays attention to Rika, she can read Rika to an extent that most can't. Ai knew that Rika feels safest being open with her and knew that she would want Ai to be the only one to come and talk to her in her times of need. Ai also understands Rika's family situation since she too lived with a similar experience. They even call themselves "The single mother girls" in the anime.

It's shown that they held hands five times, and once in official art. Rika is very open with Ai and seems to let her walls down when it comes to her. Ai is shown often comforting Rika in the Anime, and they are very similar when it comes to their gestures and their thoughts in the anime. In episode 7 Rika is shown almost giving up, Ai is so worried that she doesn't fight her own battle because she wants to make sure that Rika is safe, earlier in this episode Rika was shown crying in front of Ai, which is one of the reasons why she gets so worried. she askes Acca and Ura- Acca to tell her what's happening with Rika's fight. When they tell her that Rika is giving up on fighting Ai gets very worried and talks to Rika through their pendants. when Rika comes out of the fight alive, it shows her friends very worried and Ai immediately runs to hug Rika. In this scene they are shown blushing.

In episode 13 Rika is shown upset that Momoe doesn't want to go back to the capsule, because she doesn't want to get hurt. Ai holds Rika's hand to calm her down, soon after Rika sits back down calmly. This shows that Rika always listens to Ai and feels comforted by her. later on in episode 13 Rika walks out of the room because she is upset that there was 'no' Neiru that whole time, and the Neiru they knew was all a big 'lie'. she leaves the room, and Ai gets up and follows. It shows Tanabe trying to talk to Ai, but Ai is shown going after Rika (what she cares about more) Ai goes to see Rika. Rika explains how she misses Chiemi and Mannen. then she starts saying that she's gonna die As well. Ai comforts her while also crying. and then the screen cuts off, doesn't show much of Ai comforting her, but that's where it was heading.

Fanon
Due to their close friendship and deep bond, many fans like this ship. Many fans enjoy the variety of nicknames that Rika calls Ai, and how Rika calls Rika-chan, meaning that they're more intimate. One of the main reasons why the ship is popular is the two having an understanding of each other, due to them both having family issues. Which would allow them to talk about it with each other without the situation being awkward. As they would have a common starting point of understanding. Airika is usually compared to the ship MikuRin due to their colors and Parechu because they have similar dynamics "Calm and taller person (Ai/Pareo) x Short that gets angry easily (Rika/Chu2)".

Many people in the fandom call Ai a "sunshine" and Rika a "sunshine protector". A popular headcanon is the two doing their favoring hobbies of watching movies and collecting stickers togetehr, as well as many liking the idea of Rika dying Ai's hair pink to match hers. Rika often shows her affection better through actions and physical touch, and is a little bit clingy towards Ai. Making many fans drawn to the physical aspect of the ship and even like to draw art of the two cuddling. Many also like to imagine them having sleepovers only at Ai's house because Rika wants to escape her home life and would be way to embarrassed for Ai to come to her house.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * (Rika X Ai) - It's okay, I'm here. - Wattpad
 * AMV'S
 * Airika Sweet tooth AMV - YouTube
 * Trying - Airika AMV - YouTube
 * Rika x Ai if I could fly AMV - YouTube
 * Trying - Airika AMV - YouTube
 * Rika x Ai if I could fly AMV - YouTube