Honoka and Tsubasa were catching up at their favorite coffee shop. Work has been very efficient in keeping them apart lately so whenever they have free time, they hang out.
Honoka took a sip from her white chocolate frappe while looking at the brunette that she missed dearly.
"I can't believe that we finally have the entire day for ourselves!" she said enthusiastically. Tsubasa smiled at the thought of spending the day with Honoka. Prior to today's date, they have already planned the activities that they would want to do together. Honoka said that she wanted to go to an amusement park, while Tsubasa suggested that they visit a nearby art museum. They tried to accomplish their jobs as early as possible, since both of them were excited for this date to commence.
As they were about to leave the coffee shop and go visit the amusement park, Honoka's phone suddenly rang. It was a call from Nico Yazawa.
"Uhhmm, hey, Nico-chan! What's up?" Honoka asked.
The orangehead heard several deep breaths before the other spoke in response. "Honoka... I have a favor to ask you." Nico sounded so nervous, which made Honoka worry. "You see, I'll be leaving for Nagano tonight and mom's on her business trip so there's no one who'll be looking after my siblings. I know that today was your only day-off for the week b-but.."
Honoka already knew where that conversation was going. She looked at Tsubasa, who also got a grasp of Nico's favor.
"If that is so, maybe we could postpone the date for next week?" Sadness was evident in Honoka's face. Tsubasa caressed her girlfriend's cheeks then asked her if she could hand her the phone
Tsubasa cleared her throat before saying anything to Nico. "Hello, this is Tsubasa. We don't have any plans so we could look after your siblings for tonight." Honoka pouted when Tsubasa said that they don't have any plans when in fact, they had to cancel their date to attend to this urgent request.
Nonetheless, Honoka understands the situation that Nico was in. She still considered it as a date, the only difference is that they'll be in Nico's house with Nico's siblings.
After Nico leaving a few reminders, Tsubasa hang up the phone. She thought that she must lighten the heavy atmosphere between her and Honoka. "Aren't you excited? This will be the first time that we'll sleep together!" the brunette laughingly joked.
They wore their disguises before leaving the shop and decided that they should head to the supermarket first to buy ingredients for their supper. Honoka grabbed Tsubasa by her arm as she slowly interwined her fingers with hers.
"Maybe this date isn't going to be that bad at all." she whispered to herself with a bright smile on her face.
It didn't take them long to reach the Yazawa residence. Honoka pressed the doorbell, and she got surprised when a small, red-eyed boy opened the door for her. "Oohh myuzu! Myuzu!" Cotaro shouted upon seeing Honoka.
Nico's house didn't change one bit. It looked like the same since the last time she visited (that was the time when knew that they were just "back-up dancers" of the number 1 idol Nico Yazawa). Cocoro and Cocoa noticed the arrival of two guests so they went to greet and welcome them. "Are you the ones who are going to stay with us tonight?" Cocoro asked and Honoka nodded in response.
Cocoa pointed her index finger on the brunette, whose face is unfamiliar to her. "Who is she? She's not from μ's, right?"
Tsubasa pat Cocoa's head. "Yes, I'm not. But I am an idol as well." The three siblings were amazed upon knowing that both of their visitors today are idols just like their sister.
Honoka played with them while Tsubasa was preparing their supper. She can't help but smile while noticing how good Honoka is in dealing with children. Tsubasa suddenly thought that they looked like a married couple given their current situation. The thought of Honoka taking care of their future children made her grin as if there's no tomorrow.
The kids praised the food that Tsubasa prepared, saying that it was close to their sister's cooking. Honoka volunteered to take them to bath and Tsubasa (who is avoiding any child-related chores) opted to wash the dishes instead.
Smoke filled the room, indicating that the three are already finished bathing. Three kids and a sweaty orangehead exited the bathroom. Tsubasa's face immediately turned red upon seeing that beholding sight. She was lost in her thoughts and even forgot that she was about to clothe Nico's siblings.
"Tsubasa! Tsubasa!" Honoka shrieked as she went walked towards the dumbfounded brunette.
"Oh god, you're beautiful." Tsubasa declared as she got a closer look at the orangehead. Honoka turned away because of extreme embarrassment, making her think that Honoka wouldn't do that if she hadn't said anything. "Holy sh-" she stopped herself from cussing as she remembered that they were surrounded with kids. "Did I say that out loud?"
The kids laughed at Tsubasa's shocked expression. Honoka, who was now able to regain her composure, took the kids to the bedroom to clothe them herself.
Before closing the door, Honoka called Tsubasa to get her attention. "Thank you for that kind compliment earlier!" she said then gave off her signature wink. That moment, Tsubasa wanted to bury herself alive.
The lights are closed and they were already in the lying on the bed. Tsubasa's more than ready to sleep but a force that was kicking her leg did not allow her to. "Bedtime story! Bedtime story!" Cotaro complained as he continuously kicked Tsubasa.
Despite of being reluctant, Tsubasa was forced to open the lights again. Honoka sat down to join Tsubasa in their storytelling session with the kids.
"What would you want me to read?" the siblings gave a puzzling look at each other before answering. "Can you pick something we don't know yet? Our sister only tells us the story of a girl who wants to become an idol every night. It's getting really really boring..." Cocoa replied. Typical Nico, Tsubasa thought. As much as she would want to tell a new story to them, she didn't know any bedtime story for kids.
"Oh, I know!" Honoka raised her hand and seemed like she had a good idea in mind. "There's a story I read back when I was a child. It's entitled Alice in Wonderland!" the brunette sighed in relief upon hearing Honoka's story suggestion. The kids were fervent about hearing the new title and persuaded the pair to read it to them.
Tsubasa and Honoka didn't have a copy of Alice in Wonderland to read. The orange haired girl tried to connect to the internet and search online. Unfortunately, there's no signal in the place. Tsubasa thought that they had no choice but to alter the happenings in the story.
"Okay, so here it goes...
Once upon a time, there was a orange-haired princess named Alice. Despite being a princess, she still felt lonely because she's alone in a big castle. One day, she decided to visit the garden and observe the flowers. Much to her surprise, she saw a talking rat which fascinated her. She followed this rat into a hole and finds herself in a long hallway full of windows. She enters one of the windows and it led her to another garden which was owned by the Queen of Hearts. There, gardeners, whose bodies are shaped like playing cards, painted all the roses red." the siblings were blown away by Tsubasa's invented story. She caught her breath then continued the story where she left off.
"The queen didn't like trespassers, so she ordered the princess to be executed. Before the execution, the queen was able to see the princess up close. She thought that it would be a waste to kill a girl with such a lovely face. She offered Alice that she will spare her life if she stays in her castle forever. Alice gladly accepted it. She and the queen they lived happily every after in wonderland."
After reaching the end of her story, she heard loud sounds of clapping in the room. The kids did like Tsubasa's rendition of Alice in Wonderland, but she felt the piercing stare from the orangehead beside her.
"A rat? Seriously, Tsubasa?" she asked while crossing her arms.
"Don't blame me, I couldn't think of any animal at that moment!" Tsubasa responded defensively.
They tucked the three kids to sleep and lain on the bed as well. "You know, you really suck at story telling." Honoka said softly to Tsubasa. The brunette chose to ignore that comment and just tightened her grip on Honoka's waist. They both decided to leave the "Alice in Wonderland" conversation for tomorrow.
Honoka received another call from Nico. A smirk escaped her lips before picking up the phone. "Honoka! Thank you to the both of you for yesterday." Nico greeted her with delight and gratitude. "No problem, we also had fun taking care of the kids." it was really tiring to be surrounded with children. She can't imagine how Nico was able to harbor such great responsibility everyday.
"Honoka, they told me a really weird story..." the orangehead got a hunch about what she was talking about. "As far as I remember, Alice in Wonderland never sounded that gay!" she protested. Honoka laughed upon hearing how angry Nico was. "Well that wasn't my own doing, it was Tsubasa's."
Honoka heard Nico's grunting from the other line. "Please tell your girlfriend that she's a horrible story teller!" she said before hanging up the phone.
The orangehead was about to compose a message to Tsubasa containing the things that Nico told her but then, she ended up deleting everything she just typed.
Why bother? Tsubasa already knows that.
