Author Note: The idea for this came from Baxter54132 during a conversation we had about what could cause tension in Sayo and Tsugumi's relationship. This fic is connected to my previous fic, Cursed, but you do not have to read it to understand this.
After band practice Tsugumi bid the others farewell and hurried home. That evening, as with most evenings, she was scheduled to work in the family café. She was going to eat with her parents as soon as she arrived home, and then start her shift.
When she was about half way home, making good time, her cell phone rang in her bag. Tsugumi pulled the device out, faltering in her steps when she saw who it was. The caller id said 'Sayo-san' with a picture of Sayo playing the guitar in her stage costume below it.
Tsugumi occasionally talked to Sayo on the phone; mostly they discussed issues with their bands, friends, and siblings. Sayo had this way of making Tsugumi feel comfortable. Sometimes Tsugumi called Sayo, and sometimes Sayo called her. Their calls weren't frequent, but Tsugumi still enjoyed speaking with her.
Tsugumi answered the phone, standing on a street corner as she placed it against her ear. "Hello?" She asked, just in case it was someone else calling from Sayo's phone.
"Good evening Tsugumi." Sayo greeted her, sounding a little bit frazzled. "Do you have a few minutes to talk." She spoke every so slightly faster than normal.
"Sayo-san! It's good to hear from you." Tsugumi couldn't help but smile that Sayo had actually called. "Of course I do, what's up?" She looked up at the intersection, starting to walk again as she listened to Sayo talk.
"It's Hina. She went on her first date a couple months ago, and it didn't go well. Maruyama-san asked her out today, but she doesn't know if she wants to accept because it could go the same way." Sayo was talking even faster now. Tsugumi listened closely, taking in the details of this complicated mess Sayo seemed to have created for herself. "It's my fault. I said the first date would go poorly and cursed her, and now I don't know how to fix it. Do you know how to lift a curse?" Was that really how Sayo wanted to solve it? By lifting a curse?
"Hmm." Tsugumi thought about it for a moment. "For a curse you would usually throw salt over the shoulder, but I don't think that's the heart of the problem here." The problem wasn't that Hina was cursed, after all curses weren't real, Tsugumi thought. Perhaps it was something simpler and more realistic. "Have you tried just, supporting her? Taking those negative feelings and turning them into something positive? Because, I don't know, it sounds like your encouragement could go a long way towards lifting this curse." Tsugumi had met Hina, and she knew that if her older sister encouraged her, that girl could do anything.
There was a long pause as Sayo thought about what Tsugumi said.
"Thank you, Hazawa-san" She finally said. "You give good advice."
Tsugumi's cheeks warmed slightly. "You're welcome, Sayo-san."
"Have a good evening." Sayo said, clearly bringing the conversation to a close. Tsugumi still had a way to walk yet and could talk for longer, but if Sayo wanted to be done that that was fine. Cutting the conversation off at this point felt strange though.
"Bye!" She called through the phone before hanging up. Tsugumi stowed the phone back in her bag, walking at a slower pace than before.
She really did like talking to Sayo, she thought as she strolled, but something felt a little odd. She couldn't put her finger on just what it was though, but she had a strange feeling about their conversation. It was pretty normal, she thought, for Sayo to call her for advice. Why then, after the conversation was over, did she feel like something had gone wrong?
A few days later, on a bright and warm Sunday, Tsugumi was working on her literature homework at home. She had finished reading the assigned text during the week and was currently writing a short summary of the text. It wasn't a difficult assignment, but it had to get done.
While she worked, Tsugumi kept her cell phone face down on the table. Her friends texted sometimes, and she often needed to look up words in the dictionary in order to, as her teacher put it, improve her diction.
Tsugumi was in the middle of writing a sentence when her phone started to ring. It buzzed and emitted a cheery ringtone, indicating an incoming call. She flipped the phone over, unable to resist smiling when she saw that familiar picture of Sayo.
"Hello!" Tsugumi answered the phone brightly.
"Hello, Hazawa-san." Sayo sounded calmer than when Tsugumi spoke with her a few days before. "How are you?"
"Doing well today," Tsugumi put down her pencil to focus on the conversation. "How are you Sayo-san?" She asked.
Sayo sighed so quietly Tsugumi almost missed it. "I'm okay, though I'm having trouble with some baking today."
"What's wrong?" Though she wasn't good enough to make pastries for the shop, baking was still one of Tsugumi's strengths. Sayo, on the other hand, still struggled with the basics.
"I made some cookies and they turned out okay." Sayo replied quickly. "But now I'm making frosting, and it doesn't taste quite right. I followed the recipe, but it's a bit too sweet and I'm not sure how to fix it."
"Hmm." Getting the flavor of a frosting just right could be tough for a beginner; Tsugumi had needed to remake plenty of batches herself due to measuring mistakes. "It's hard to know without tasting it, honestly." She said into the phone, shifting it to her other ear.
"Yes, that makes sense." Sayo sounded contemplative. "Is there anything commonly missed that could be causing it?" Her voice rose with the question.
Too sweet, not enough salt could be the culprit. "Did you add enough salt? That could decrease the sweetness of the frosting."
"I put in a little." Sayo's voice was quieter as if she had moved away from the phone. "The box said one quarter teaspoon."
"Double that and see how it tastes." Tsugumi hoped that would fix Sayo's problem instead of just making everything taste like salt.
"Okay, thank you Hazawa-san." Sayo seemed satisfied with that answer.
"Always glad to help!" Tsugumi chimed back.
"Have a good day." Like before, Sayo started to end the conversation. In that moment Tsugumi remembered the call from a few days ago, how Sayo was trying to help Hina. She remembered the odd feeling in her gut after the last phone call, feeling it once again in the pit of her stomach.
"Oh, before you go, how did things go with Hina-senpai?" Tsugumi asked eagerly, wondering if the other twin was successful in her ventures.
"It went well." Sayo said simply. "Your advice worked great; the shoulder salt was particularly effective." It sounded like she followed through on Tsugumi's words.
This brought a smile to Tsugumi's face, staving off the odd feeling. "That's good to hear."
"She said her date with Maruyama-san went well too; they're actually a couple now. I'm glad I didn't ruin their relationship." The faint sound of stirring could be heard from Sayo's end of the line. It sounded like she was working on her frosting.
"That's great!" Tsugumi exclaimed. "Thanks for filling me in. I'll leave you to your baking now, let me know how the frosting turns out!" She needed to get back to her essay; it wasn't going to write itself.
"I will." Sayo said back. "Goodbye." She hung up the phone, ending the call. Tsugumi placed her phone back down on the table. The feeling that she was missing something was back, but she couldn't figure out what it was.
Sayo had called her twice in the last few days, so why did she feel uneasy?
Tsugumi returned to her literature essay, resuming where she left off. She wrote for a while longer, wrapping up the report in the next hour. Once she finished the essay, she checked her phone once again.
There were two texts from Moca, one from Himari, and about one hundred messages in the afterglow group chat. There were not any texts or calls from Sayo.
How disappointing; Tsugumi had wanted to hear how the frosting turned out.
That was it, her eyes widened at the thought. Sayo didn't contact her with the good news, she only called with the bad. She wanted advice about Hina but didn't call again to say how it had gone. She asked about how to make frosting but didn't report on the taste. Their relationship had been formed around their shared struggles, Tsugumi knew that ever since they talked at the baking lesson, but was it really enough?
Tsugumi really did like Sayo, and she wanted to hear about the good things too. Maybe it was selfish to demand so much of Sayo's attention, but that was how Tsugumi felt.
Did she want to do something about it? If she left it then nothing would change. Their relationship would continue as is, hanging out a couple times a month and discussing their problems. Sayo would remain as someone to be squeezed into Tsugumi's schedule instead of as a permanent fixture.
Or, Tsugumi thought, they could spend more time together and talk about even more great things. They could talk more frequently about improvements in music, dogs they saw on the street, and anything else that could come to mind. If Tsugumi was honest and talked to Sayo, this was highly possible.
There was a chance that Sayo wouldn't want to talk more, and that would hurt, but Tsugumi was nothing if not a risk taker.
Tsugumi pulled out her phone and opened the texting logs; the decision was an easy one to make.
Tsugumi: Hey Sayo-san! Do you want to hang out for a bit at the park near CiRCLE tomorrow?
Sayo: I can after band rehearsal, if that works for you
Tsugumi: Sounds good, I'll see you there around 6:00
At 5:55 sharp Tsugumi loitered near the entrance gate to the park. She'd beaten Sayo there somehow, probably due to Roselia band practice running late.
She had thought about what she was going to say and was ready.
At 5:57 Sayo approached from the sidewalk, giving a slight wave. The mid-afternoon light glinted off her guitar case.
"Hey Sayo-san." Tsugumi greeted her softly, feeling a little shy.
"Sorry I'm late." Sayo apologized, stopping on front of Tsugumi. "I hope you weren't waiting long?"
"Not at all." Tsugumi insisted, gesturing towards the park gates. "Do want to walk a bit?" She needed some time to gather herself for the topic to come.
"Sure." Sayo set off towards the park entrance, Tsugumi matching her pace.
They walked like that for a while, making small talk and catching up about school. The weather was warm, leading to a comfortable stroll.
When they reached the playground, Tsugumi stopped; she was ready. "Let's take a break." She pointed at a nearby bench, which was partly shaded by a tree. "There's a bench we can sit on."
Sayo nodded, following Tsugumi to the bench. Tsugumi plopped down on the right side, with Sayo on the left.
"How did the frosting turn out yesterday?" Tsugumi asked, bringing the topic around to the reason she invited Sayo to the park.
The corner of Sayo's lip lifted as she talked about the sweets she baked. "You were right about the salt, adding a little more fixed the flavor."
"I'm glad." Tsugu took a deep breath; even after stalling for more time she was still nervous. "I was sad yesterday that you didn't call back after." She looked right at Sayo, eyes meeting directly.
"I'm sorry." Sayo apologized, blinking once. "I meant to text you about it, but I must've forgotten."
"It wasn't just yesterday." Tsugumi continued, taking another slow breath. "Last week too, I was sad that you didn't call me after Hina-senpai's date. I wanted to hear about it. You only call when there's a problem, but I don't want that to be the case."
"Hazawa-san…" Sayo seemed lost for words, her brow furrowing in thought.
"I want you to call me about good things too, Sayo-san." Tsugumi forced a smile on her face despite Sayo's confused expression. "I want to help you with your problems, but I also want to hear about the great things that happen. I like talking to you." She insisted, leaning towards Sayo slightly.
"I uhh." Sayo rarely lost her composure, but she seemed to be having trouble at this moment. "I didn't want to bother you too much. I thought I was being a nuisance, actually." Her cheeks flushed slightly, and Tsugumi committed her flustered face to memory. "I like talking to you too."
"I'll call more too then!" Tsugumi was actually smiling now, her pulse jumping and warmth in her chest. "Whenever I want to talk."
"Me too." Sayo nodded, her lips drawn in a straight line as if she was taking this seriously.
"Sounds great!" Tsugumi jumped up from the bench, feeling as if she could float off the ground. Sayo stood as well, picking up her guitar case.
The two continued walking through the park, the sun starting its descent in the distance.
"We can test it tonight." The flush was still present on Sayo's cheeks. "Since I've been baking recently, my parents asked me to make dessert. I'll call and let you know how it went." She looked ahead, not making eye contact with Tsugumi.
"I'll look forward to it." Tsugumi walked with a lightened step, continuing the conversation with a suggestion about just what Sayo should bake.
The two walked side by side, hands less than a foot apart, cheeks warm in the evening sun, conversation flowing; they both looked forward to the call later that night.