On a Rainbow-Colored Backdrop
"'Tsumi Fukaku Aishite Yo'? 'Let's Spend the Night Together'?! I couldn't possibly sing something like that!" he yelped, hoping his voice wasn't squeaking.
"C'mon Subaru, where's your sense of humor?" Hokuto tsked, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him. Even though they lived by themselves, Hokuto's maternal impulse adeptly covered all requirements of unextended family in their stead. Especially the scolding.
"It's okay, Hokuto-chan. If Subaru-kun doesn't feel comfortable with singing, there's no reason why he ought to."
Hokuto gestured wildly with her hands, frantically waving them every direction to illustrate her thoughts. "No, no, Sei-chan, you don't understand! Subaru LOVES to sing! When we were twelve, I'd drag him to similar karaoke joints all the time. It was so cute; I'd dress him from head to toe in peacock blue," here she motioned to Subaru's imaginary outfit, steepling her fingers and drawing a line to indicate the hem and cut. "It was about this long, and the sleeves were made of this really soft material Obaa-chama once brought back from Kyoto--kind of gauzy but also bright as silk, and--" she trailed on, yammering about detail upon detail while Seishirou cheerily sat in rapt attention and Subaru looked increasingly mortified.
The hand on the ("somewhat grotesquely", Subaru thought, noting how the ends twisted upward) smiley-faced clock was parallel to checkered tile ceiling, and every minute slowly ticked by from one o'clock to one-thirty.
"--So anyway, once we got around to singing, Subaru started to really enjoy it! At first, he actually wanted me to cover my ears while he sang, he was so embarrassed. But if you wanna know what his favorite song is..." She jumped up and whispered something into the curve of Seishirou's ear.
"You know, Hokuto-chan, you may be producing a similar reaction right now."
All the blood had rushed to Subaru's face: cheeks and ears over-bright, he gave off a not unmerited comparison to a tomato.
Seishirou smiled. He didn't care for Hokuto either way, but she did have her uses. Such as providing occasional amusement.
