Author Note: I got the idea for this while talking with Bax about different Hina ships and how Sayo would react to Hina dating.
Part of Sayo's routine, after band practice most days, was to walk with Yukina and Lisa to the station. It started when Lisa invited her along every day for a week, and soon became a habit. Since the two of them went to a different school than Sayo, she didn't have many chances to speak with them outside of band practice. These walks home were usually a good chance to catch up.
Usually they were.
On this particular day, Sayo was barely participating in the conversation. She walked behind Yukina and Lisa, whose arms brushed against each other ahead of her, looking down at the sidewalk. Sayo ran the rest of the day's schedule over in her mind again; she wanted to practice when she got home and what time did Hina say she was leaving again?
Caught up in her thoughts, Sayo didn't notice Lisa stop walking in front of her.
"Lost in thought today?" Lisa asked, drawing Sayo's gaze and stopping her in her tracks. Yukina had stopped as well and was looking back with her usual neutral expression.
Sayo couldn't help but let out a small sigh. "I suppose." She mused.
"I know why," Lisa's lips curled up into that little cat grin she always made when she started trouble, and Sayo knew what she was about to say. "Hina has a date tonight." She was exactly right. Tonight was Hina's first real date. One of her classmates, she'd said the girls name was Rikka, asked her out to dinner. Hina accepted and would not stop talking to Sayo about the event at every free moment. It wasn't surprising that Lisa had heard about it, considering the frequency at which Hina discussed it.
"Oh really?" Yukina chimed in, one eyebrow raised.
"Yes, really. She's seeing someone from your school." Sayo nodded. Honestly, she was quite tired of listening to Hina talk about the date and just wanted it to be over.
"That's so exciting!" Lisa seemed to think, considering how loud she exclaimed it. "Do you think it's serious?" Ah, Sayo thought, Lisa was just gossiping. Or she was being friendly; it was hard for Sayo to tell the difference.
"I think." Sayo lifted one hand to her chin, musing aloud in response. "That it'll end before the food is even served." After all, Hina had a tendency to run her mouth and say offensive things without hesitation. Most girls were not prepared for that.
Lisa was offended on Hina's behalf. "Sayo, that's horrible!" The cat smile was long gone.
Sayo crossed her arms. "You know how Hina is though." Unless this Rikka was the kindest and most understanding person on the planet, there was a high chance of the whole date going sideways.
"They won't make it to the restaurant." Yukina contributed with a smirk, turning to walk away as if that ended the conversation.
"Yukina!" Lisa trailed after her, calling her name angrily. "That's so mean!"
Sayo picked up walking behind them once again, listening as Lisa berated them both for their statements.
By the time they reached the station, Yukina had apologized three times and owed Lisa a batch of cookies to make up for it. Sayo, on the other hand, had been able to fly under the radar and escaped unscathed. Lisa gave her one last disgruntled look as they parted, but Sayo tried not to let it bother her. She wasn't going to apologize.
After a brief train ride, Sayo arrived at home. Since her practice ran so late, she was the last family member to get home. Hina was occupied with checking her hair in the bathroom and thankfully didn't notice Sayo slip past and into her room. She closed the door with a sigh of relief, depositing her guitar and bag in their usual places.
The peace and quiet wouldn't last forever though. Sayo was practicing a difficult part on her guitar when it happened.
"Onee-chan!" Hina opened the door without warning, causing Sayo's fingers to slip on the strings.
"Haven't I told you to knock?" Sayo frowned at her sister, who practically glowed in the doorway.
Hina had actually put on some light makeup and dressed in clothing appropriate for a date. Maybe it would go better than expected, Sayo thought as Hina apologized. "Sorry, I forgot." She grinned. "Wanted to tell you that I'm leaving now, see you later!" Hina gave a small but frantic wave, leaving Sayo's door open as she vanished down the hall. Sayo checked the time to confirm, but it looked like Hina was leaving right on time for the date.
Sayo closed the door to her room before resuming practice. Her parents still wouldn't eat dinner for a while yet, so she had more time to work on her guitar playing.
Without Hina in the house, it was easy for Sayo to focus. She engulfed herself in the same passage as before, this time without interruption for at least an hour. Or at least, that's what she thought.
The sound of a door slamming in the house didn't have quite the same effect as Hina's voice did earlier, but it certainly snapped her focus. A glance at the clock told her it had been about 45 minutes, too soon for dinner and far too soon for Hina to already be back and making noise.
Sayo almost went back to playing, almost. What if her parents needed help with something, she would be a bad kid if she ignored them. She opened the door and peeked out, surprised to see that Hina's door, which was located next to hers and usually wide open, was closed tightly. Sayo's mother stood outside of it, a concerned expression on her face.
"What's going on?" Sayo asked, emerging from her room.
Her mother shook her head. "Hina just got home, but she won't tell me what happened." She gestured at the closed door.
"Oh." Was all Sayo could say. It had actually happened, she thought as she turned back to her own door. The date had ended badly. "I'll be in my room." She managed a few more words before vacating the hallway back to the safety of her room.
It was silent, no, if she listened closely Sayo could hear the quiet sound of sobs through the wall.
She hadn't actually wanted this to happen, she really hadn't. Even though she'd predicted it, now that it was happening Sayo couldn't believe it.
It was almost like she had cursed Hina's date, if that was even possible. By being her usual negative self she had ruined what should've been a wonderful experience for her sister.
Sayo sat down on the bed, guitar forgotten, leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
As the next few months passed, Sayo tried not to think about how she cursed her twin's first date. She heard from Lisa that Rikka had left before they had ordered dinner, saying that Hina insulted her.
For her part, Hina bounced back pretty quickly. As early as the next morning she was back to her usual energetic self.
Sayo could almost forget about the unfortunate incident, but like Hina bursting into her room without knocking some things never went away.
It was a pretty regular day; Sayo had gone home after rehearsal and was practicing guitar in her room. Hina wasn't home yet when she arrived, which was unusual but not unheard of.
"Onee-chan." The door opened slowly, almost hesitatingly. "Do you have a minute?" Hina stood in the door with her hands held together in front of her, eyes tilted towards the floor.
Hina hadn't knocked, but she was speaking at a normal volume for once and Sayo had cursed her pretty recently. "I guess I do." Sayo conceded, setting her guitar down.
"Yay!" Hina perked up a bit, plopping down on Sayo's bed. Once seated, she deflated and brought her hands back together. "So I had band practice today, and we were rehearsing Shuwa and it was boppin'. After, Aya-chan asked me to stay and talk to her her, so I did." Hina glanced up from her hands every few words, and Sayo wondered where this story was going. "She asked me out on a date." Her eyes stayed down.
That was a surprise. Sayo knew that Hina was friends with her bandmates, but she hadn't realized that they were that close. When Hina didn't continue speaking, Sayo prompted her. "What did you say?" She asked.
"I didn't know what to say, which is unusual for me." Hina cracked a small smile at the second half of her sentence, but it was quickly replaced with a frown. "So I asked her if I could have time to think. She said it was okay, and then I left." Hina brought her eyes up to make full eye contact with Sayo. "What should I do?" She asked earnestly.
Sayo took a moment to respond. She felt a bit flabbergasted that Hina was even asking her about things like this. It wasn't like she had an active dating life. "Do you like her?" Was the question Sayo settled on, wondering if Hina returned the other girls feelings.
"I do!" Hina's eyes lit up. "I really do like Aya-chan." An easy grin had settled across Hina's face, so different from the anxious look from moments before.
"I don't understand." Sayo replied in a calm tone. "Why are you asking me for advice if you already know that you like her?" She crossed her arms, trying to parse Hina's statements in her mind.
Hina hesitated, her face falling. "I'm worried. After the last date, well." She scoffed. "You remember how that went." Sayo did remember, she remembered all too well. "I like Aya-chan a lot, and I don't want to mess it up like I always do." Hina sighed in a matter uncharacteristic to her. "So maybe I should just, not, you know?"
For a moment, Sayo merely stared. This, all of this, extended back to the curse. Because she cursed Hina's first date they would all go badly, of this Sayo was certain. Hina's lack of confidence only exacerbated the idea in her mind. She thought it would just go away, but clearly the curse was more potent than expected. Since this was her fault, she had to do something about it.
"I need to think about it." Sayo tried not to convey the minor panic she felt in her voice. "I'll come see you if I think of something." She stood from her seat, gesturing for Hina to exit the room.
"Thanks, Onee-chan!" HIna rose as well, taking the hint and heading towards the door. "See you later." She called back as she left, shutting the door behind her.
Sayo immediately pulled out her cell phone, dialing the one person who could help her. The phone rang a few times, and then went to voicemail. "This is Lisa! Please leave a message, thanks!" If Sayo were the type, she would've cursed. What a terrible time for Lisa to not answer her phone. She was good at relationships; she would've known how to fix this. She might've even know something about removing curses.
The next person to try, Sayo supposed with a grimace, was Yukina. Unlike Lisa, Yukina struggled with relationships, but she knew the situation already and could maybe get Sayo in touch with Lisa. Sayo selected the contact from her phone and hit the call button.
"This is Minato speaking." Yukina answered the phone in her usual way.
"Minato-san, I need your help with something." Sayo cut right to the chase. "A couple months ago, when we were talking about Hina's date, we cursed her and now I need to fix it."
"One moment." Yukina said, and then Sayo could hear her muffled voice say, "it's okay Lisa, it's not an emergency," before coming back to the phone. "Sayo, I thought you would already know this, but curses are not real."
"Please pass the phone to Imai-san." Sayo didn't have time to deal with Yukina's no nonsense attitude right now.
"She's busy." Yukina responded flatly.
"Doing what?" Sayo asked incredulously, gesturing with her free hand.
Yukina's voice almost sounded smug, but Sayo could've been imagining it. "Writing music."
"And she can't take a few minutes to help me?" Sayo felt like grinding her teeth together at how obstinate Yukina was being.
"To deal with a curse? No." Sayo could imagine Yukina shaking her head. "Good luck, Sayo." She said, before hanging up.
If Sayo were a less rational person, and she took pride in her rationality, she might've thrown her phone against the wall. Instead, she opened her contacts to look for someone else to help with this.
Ako? No, even though Ako acted like she knew about dark arts, she was just babbling nonsense most of the time. Rinko? Also no, she knew a bit more than Ako did but still didn't know anything about the occult.
Sayo's finger stopped on Tsugumi. They'd met at a Hazawa baking class and, after going to the store a few times, exchanged phone numbers. Sayo had already shared some of her ongoing Hina problems with Tsugumi, and the other girl had been incredibly understanding. She probably didn't know anything about curses, but maybe she could still help.
Sayo hit the call button before she could change her mind.
The phone rang a couple times before being answered. "Hello?" Tsugumi's voice sounded clear through the phone.
"Good evening Tsugumi." Sayo kept her voice level. "Do you have a few minutes to talk."
"Sayo-san! It's good to hear from you." Tsugumi said, the warmth in her tone bringing a small smile to Sayo's face. "Of course I do, what's up?"
"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." The words flowed out easily, as they did when Sayo talked to Tsugumi. "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?" Sayo cast out the question with a hint of desperation, hoping that Tsugumi would have an answer.
"Hmm." Tsugumi thought it over 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." Sayo listened carefully to every word Tsugumi said. "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's voice grew stronger at the end, asserting herself strongly.
Tsugumi was absolutely right, Sayo thought. She was the one who doubted Hina in the first place, maybe turning that doubt into support would get rid of the negative energy and be what the other girl needed. The advice about salt was probably a good idea too.
"Thank you, Hazawa-san" Sayo replied softly. "You give good advice."
"You're welcome, Sayo-san." Tsugumi's voice sounded soothing to her ears.
"Have a good evening." As much as Sayo wanted to stay on the line and keep talking, there were little sisters to attend to.
"Bye!" Tsugumi exclaimed, before hanging up the phone.
Sayo looked at the ended call, satisfied with how it went. Tsugumi really was a good friend.
Before doing anything else, Sayo finished putting her guitar away. It was still sitting out from practicing earlier and needed some attention. Once that was finished, Sayo had stalled long enough to get her nerves settled for speaking with Hina.
Sayo left her room, not bothering to close the door behind her. The hallway was empty, no other family members were present to disturb the coming conversation. She walked the few steps to Hina's room and, even though Hina never did it for her, knocked politely.
Hina answered after about thirty seconds, the same vacant expression adorning her face as earlier. She perked up a little when she saw who it was though.
"Onee-chan!" She raised her voice louder than it needed to be.
"Do you mind meeting in the kitchen?" Sayo asked, keeping her voice at an appropriate volume.
Hina furrowed her eyebrows, but agreed. She followed Sayo down the hallway to the main part of the house, and the pair sat next to each other at the kitchen table.
The silence between them felt strange, and Sayo was the first to break it. "I thought about what you said." She said slowly.
"Wow, really?" Hina sounded surprised, which considering Sayo's general attitude should've been expected. "What do you think I should do?"
"You should go for it." Sayo said resolutely. "Just because something bad happened in the past doesn't mean it will happen again."
Hina still looked concerned. "But what if it does? I really like Aya-chan, like really really like her. I don't want to mess it up." She wrung her hands together again.
Sayo turned to Hina, almost reaching for her hands but not quite able to do it. "If you like her, and she likes you, then that's all that matters at this point." Hina met her gaze. "And, you've known Maruyama-san for a long time. She wouldn't have asked you out if she didn't know what she was getting into." At that, Hina looked a bit confused, but Sayo just continued talking. "A-anyway, if you put your best foot forward and believe, then I'm sure it will go well."
Hina's face, which had moved through various stages of befuddlement throughout the afternoon, creaked into a smile. She closed the distance between Sayo's hands and hers, grasping as if for dear life. "You're right, Onee-chan! I'm gonna say yes!"
It had been a while, Sayo mused, since she'd talked to Hina like this. It was nice, the warmth in her heart and the smile on Hina's face.
"Oh wait," Sayo remembered the other step she needed to take. "Before you do, there is one more thing."
"What is it?" Luckily they were still holding hands, and Sayo guided Hina to the side of the kitchen near the sink.
"I need to throw salt over your shoulders." Sayo said seriously, releasing Hina and grabbing the salt shaker.
"Why?" Her twin asked, reasonably for once.
It was a good question, and since Sayo couldn't tell her about the curse she needed to improvise. "For luck." She said simply.
"Okay!" Hina bought the excuse with a grin.
Sayo did her best to clean up after, she really did, but later that day, both of the twins had to explain to their mother why there was salt on the floor.