.

ooooo

I'm not in this
Masquerade

ooo

Monday, 9 July 2012

"Are these the only notes you have?" Kondo Reina said, looking incredulously at Ritsu. She was holding the other brunette's notebook, on the page that contained several sentence fragments and doodling.

Ritsu faked a nervous giggle. "I thought it was a tutorial," she explained, pointing at a caricature of their lecturer. At Reina's unamused stare, she added, "Oh c'mon! You know how she is. She's like, the solution to insomnia."

Reina continued to stare at her.

Ritsu quickly flapped a hand in-between them, as if to rid the awkward silence. "Anyway, why don't you just ask her for the pages she was going on about?"

"Because she'd tell me to ask you."

"Oh yeah," Ritsu said with a grin. When Reina glowered at her, Ritsu held up her hands in defence. "Hey, hey. I know that at least! It's pages 245 to 261 of the blue book … uh wait, I think 267? I dunno, just read chapter 11."

Reina huffed. "You could've just told me that in the first place."

"Where's the fun in that?"

A rubber was thrown at Ritsu. Ritsu picked it up from the floor and pocketed it before she meandered over to Reina's bookshelf. After skimming through the many volumes, she glanced at Reina. The other girl was perusing the blue textbook as she tied up her hair into a side ponytail.

Ritsu blinked at the double image.

It definitely wasn't the first time Reina reminded her of Mio. They shared many traits, gravitating parental people like Ritsu towards them.

But there were, of course, some differences that erase the double image away. There were times where Ritsu could see the perceptible quiver of Mio's lips during her silly antics. And sometimes, even if Ritsu couldn't find it or didn't want to look for it, the infectious laughter (or snort) would have given it away.

Reina—most of the time—would stare at her. Sometimes she would play scientist, examining each minute detail before saying something that would ruin Ritsu's mood. The worst thing was: Reina had never known she was dissecting jokes.

Ritsu did like Reina's company though. She was a good inch taller than her.

"So," Ritsu said, "tell me which manga you didn't touch when you were sick."

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"You're so lame."

Ritsu took a step back, in shock. She pointed at the bookshelf. "You have Doraemon too?"

Reina swung around with flushed cheeks. "They're my brother's!" she stammered.

"Reina," Ritsu deadpanned, "He has his own bookshelves to store his stuff on. Why would he—"

"I'm serious! He reads them."

"But do you?"

"I … argh."

Ritsu cracked a smile. "Gee, calm down. I read them too. Even my parents do."

"I told you I don't read it!"

Ritsu was bordering on laughing until her stomach hurt. "You didn't tell me that. You just told me they're Ren's."

Reina seemed to have decided to ignore the brunette's taunting, for she returned to her readings. "I hate you," she muttered.

"Sugiyama loves you too."

"Shut up!"

Ritsu snickered as she watched a dictionary happily fly over her shoulder. Mentioning the name of Reina's crush always produced entertaining results.

Soon there was the sound of a highlighter against paper and Ritsu returned to the many volumes of Doraemon. Just as she was about to ask Reina if she could re-borrow the last few, the girl spoke up.

"Hey…."

"Yeah?"

"What's it like?" Reina asked quietly, "Being with a guy."

Ritsu mused over the answer to that question. An innocent answer, due to the sensitivity of the given situation. "Why are you asking me?" she finally said, flicking through the pages of the volume she had pulled out. "You read shoujo manga. Don't they tell you that stuff?"

"Shoujo manga isn't like real life, though. Real life doesn't have that much drama and sparkles."

Ritsu snorted. She couldn't pass this opportunity. "Yeah, you're right. But you might see sparkles if you're in bed with the guy."

"I really hope you're sparing me the sordid details of your love life."

Ritsu peered over the comic book. Reina's facial structure was all rigid and sharp angles. "I mean," her friend continued, "it's the only thing I hear you talk, actually talk about, when it comes to Daishiro-kun. I mean—"

"No I don't," Ritsu said immediately. "I do talk other stuff about him. But I try not to."

Reina raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Ritsu averted her eyes. She didn't like this. She knew Reina would see her next answer as unwanted pity. "I didn't want to remind you, you know," she mumbled, "that you're single."

There was a tense silence.

Reina laughed.

"That's it? Oh, Ricchan, you can tell me all this 'stuff'," Reina said with air quotations, "as much as you want. It's okay."

But it wasn't okay. Because Ritsu's answer was just an excuse—she simply couldn't talk about this stuff she had so eloquently described.

And how come she only laughs when I'm all awkward?

"By the way," Reina said, "can you give me back my rubber?"

Ritsu shook her head and patted her pocket. "I'm thinking … no."

ooo

"Hey," Ritsu said on the phone later that day, she didn't allow herself to pause lest she'd hesitate and abort mission, "how did you meet Souta?"

"Souta?" Mio said in slight surprise. "Oh … I met his sister first."

"His sister?" Ritsu parroted. She was disappointed with herself when she felt unease deep in her stomach. "Uh, were you two—did you go out with her?"

Mio laughed; Ritsu recalled the conversation she had with Tsumugi the week before. She frowned at the third wheel feeling.

"No, no," Mio answered amidst giggles, "she's married."

"Huh? She's that old?"

"She's a year older than Sou—wait … she's just a year older than us."

Judging from Mio's tone, she was just as startled as Ritsu. She ignored the reminder in both of their minds and went for something almost unrelated. "Are you two even friends?"

"Um, kind of," Mio tentatively said. "And I know how old she is. I just, you know, realised that we're turning 21 soon."

Ritsu sniggered. "You mean you had a Yui moment."

Mio snorted. "Okay, that was mean."

"She loves us."

Mio made a strange, almost nostalgic hum.

Ritsu tilted her head. "Did you like Yui?"

"…Which Yui?"

"Our Yui."

"Huh? Why the sudden question?"

"C'mon, did you like her?"

"No."

"You're lying," Ritsu bluffed. She knew all of Mio's middle school crushes. If this went well, history would be repeating itself.

"I'm not! I—why are you even asking…."

Ritsu glanced at the time on the wall. "Because I'm interested."

"…Interested in what?"

"You know, Mio."

"No I don't."

Ritsu repressed a sigh. "Do you like Yui?" When Mio didn't answer, she added, "I won't tease you."

"Really."

Fifteen seconds had passed. "Yup. Promise."

Another five. "Are you trying not to laugh? Because I'll hang up if you are."

"Now I kinda feel like laughing."

"You are teasing me then!"

"I'm not!"

"Then promise not to laugh."

"Laughing is teasing?" was what Ritsu would like to ask. Instead she repeated herself with more clarity. "Okay. I promise not to tease nor laugh."

There was a sharp exhale. Ritsu waited.

Ten seconds later. "…I—it was ages ago, okay?"

"What was ages ago?"

"You know what it is! You know it!"

"Okay, okay!"

"And do not tell anyone."

"But," Ritsu started, refraining the urge to sound too smug and amused, "even if I do tell—"

"No, you're not—"

"She won't mind, you know."

"But it's embarrassing! And she doesn't even know I'm…."

"A lesbian?" Ritsu chirped, oddly finding it to be like word vomit now. Just a week ago, she was blissfully avoiding it. Or maybe she really wasn't keeping up with her short-term promise; Mio was hilariously flustered.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like I'm hiding it from her. I just—I don't want to make a big deal about it. Not to say that Mugi made a big deal about it, I—"

"Nah," Ritsu cut in, "I get what you mean. So be like Mugi and tell the others when you do. You know, have a girlfriend. That won't be a big deal, right?"

"Yeah … I guess."

Ritsu nodded. "Yeah."

"So you're coming over on Friday to finish that movie, right?"

Ritsu blinked at the topic change. "Yeah. Why? You're busy?"

"No, just making sure."

"So you can clean up your room?"

"Your room's messier, Ritsu."

"Ah, so you are."

"Oh shut it," Mio snapped, following it with an incomprehensible mutter. Ritsu thought she heard the word procrastination.

"It's okay Mio, you don't need to. Clean, I mean. Daishiro's room is waaay messier and I'm okay with it."

"You and I have different standards of cleanliness, you know."

"What? Leaving panties on the—"

"Shut up, that doesn't happen anymore!" There was a muffled sound of wood smacking against wood. Ritsu wondered if that was from one of the drawers that held the undergarments.

"Are you cleaning up now?"

"How's Daishiro?"

Ritsu rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "You are crap at changing subjects."

"No, I'm serious. How is he?"

Ritsu pursed her lips.

Reina would always ask that question out of habit, and she would always reply that Daishiro was good and life went on. Really, it was a mystery how the two girls hadn't met yet. They would be fast friends. "He's alright, the last time I checked."

Mio laughed. Another drawer was opened and shut. "You're making him sound like a pet. Oh, like Ton-chan."

Okay, Reina wouldn't say that.

"Oi! It isn't supposed to—hey, Mio?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think I'm a pervert?"

The rustling stopped. "What brought this up?"

Ritsu blinked. Mio didn't seem to have heard her half-hearted playful tone. Or she heard it absolutely fine. "Uh, I dunno. I just, uh. Well a friend of mine—remember Reina?—told me something earlier today, and it got me thinking and all. I dunno … do you think I am?"

"A pervert?"

"Yeah…," Ritsu said, quickly finding the topic to be completely stupid. There was another silence, longer this time, and she was about to wave it off until Mio spoke again.

"I think you're an honest, normal girl."

Ritsu gaped. She hadn't been expecting an answer such as that. She had considered a situation in which she was really lucky; had received a direct yes or no. And had been spared from the tedious explanation as to why Reina's words were completely correct. "Really?"

"Who sometimes throws dirty jokes when most inappropriate," Mio deadpanned.

Ritsu's shoulders slumped. "I was going to say…."

"Why are you worried, anyway?" Mio piped up, in time with the returned rustling. "Does Reina not share your humour or something? You usually don't get, I don't know, down by something like that."

"I know. It's not that. It's … okay, you know what? Forget about it."

"…Okay," Mio said, in Tsumugi-esque fashion.

Ritsu clapped a hand over her face, having felt one of her eyebrows quirk up quite dangerously. She hadn't been wearing her hair band as consistently as she did in her high school days, but that didn't mean she wanted to be known as no-brows whenever the accessory was used.

It was when Ritsu had massaged away the crease on her forehead did she finally realise something. Or a few things.

In the past year, the days she would often use to relax in Mio's room were replaced with sleepovers at the Kondo residence. And it was most probable, on those same days in Mio's shoes, Ritsu's role was taken up by Tsumugi.

Were there important things Ritsu had told Reina about, but had neglected to tell Mio?

What else did Tsumugi know that she didn't?

Mio's humming pierced the silence.

"Hey," Ritsu croaked. She cleared her throat and then asked, "Have you ever dat—have you ever fallen in love?"

"Huh? …What's with the weird questions today?"

Ritsu ruffled up her hair in frustration. She really wasn't ever going to talk about that side of her life with Mio at this rate. And Mio wasn't making it easy to share hers. "Oh fine, just forget it and—" She heard Mio mutter something. "—wait, what did you say?"

"…I said," Mio murmured, "I think I have—maybe, so…." There was a strange huff, mutated by the static sound of the mobile phone. "Okay, why are you asking these questions?"

Ritsu grimaced at the condescending tone and whether they were still best friends. She manufactured a half-lie. "Reina wanted to know—"

"Huh?"

"—lemme finish. She wanted to know if the shoujo crap she reads is like, I dunno, similar to real life."

"Oh. Oh." Mio was suddenly laughing again. "Well, tell her it's the same and yet not."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just tell her that. She might get it."

"Well I don't."

"It's because you don't read, as you call it, shoujo crap."

"I'm so sorry I'm allergic to it," Ritsu muttered, scratching absently at the itch on her back.

"Hm?"

Ritsu held back a sigh. "Nothing. So Friday. We'll be watching the second part of Red Cliff, right?"

"Yup. Though I have a feeling I'd have to put in the first part again. You fell asleep when there were just 15 minutes left."

"I'm sure I didn't miss much."

Mio huffed. "Fine then. You'd better not ask me, 30 minutes in, the whereabouts of Sun Shangxiang."

"Huh? She appeared again at the end?"

"Yeah. It was a great scene."

Ritsu sniggered. "I bet you were too busy drooling over Zhao Wei to wake me up."

"Oh shut up. She's really talented."

"And pretty," Ritsu offered, showing she could be a great listener.

Mio made another strange hum. Ritsu switched hands with the phone; her left ear was starting to hurt.

Should I even try to ask whom she fell for? Ritsu wondered sarcastically. Because Mio was right; today was full of weird questions, already. And Ritsu wasn't sure Mio wanted to talk about it, considering how she had changed topics all of a sudden.

"So," Ritsu started, preparing herself for the half-monthly repetition, "have you talked to the others recently?"

"Hmn … I saw Mugi yesterday. And I haven't seen Azusa since Mugi's birthday."

"Oh, about Azusa, I gotta tell you something."

"Huh? What is it?"

"She told someone off."

"What kind of told off?"

Ritsu took a moment to recall how Azusa had sounded. "I-I said that she should pull her head out of her ass."

"Huh," Mio said. And Ritsu could see her friend sheepishly blinking until it had registered, "Wait, you were mimicking—Azusa said that? What? Tell me, tell me what happened!"

"Oh, you better ask her. I'll just stuff up the story."

Mio groaned. "You just said you were gonna tell me."

"I did tell you something," Ritsu rebutted. "I didn't say I'd tell you everything."

There was the sound of resignation. "You're such a smartass."

Ritsu chuckled. "I learn from the best."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mio demanded. She sighed again. "Oh forget it. I'll just ask Mugi then. She doesn't bother with these games."

Ow, that hurts.

"Well, Mugi and Azusa are kinda close." Ritsu rolled her eyes heavenwards. In retrospect, she did ask for it. "Somehow."

"Yeah. And oh, remember how we spied on them before?"

Ritsu was baffled. "…We've spied on them? When?"

"Um … yeah! It's—I heard you the first time, Mama—Mum!—hey, I gotta go."

"Huh? Okay," Ritsu mumbled, her mind burrowed in the apparently elusive past.

"See you, then."

After the search had ended, Ritsu's curiosity was significantly and uneasily dampened.

She and Mio had indeed spied on Azusa and Tsumugi before. But there was a third person.

Mio hadn't said anything about Yui.

ooo

Saturday, 14 July 2012

"Ritsu!" Ms Tainaka shrilled. "Get out of there, before I drag you out!"

Ritsu sighed. She turned off the cassette player as soon as the door to her room was flung open.

"Didn't I tell you," the woman continued to rage, "that the relatives are coming, in five minutes?"

Yes you did, Ritsu thought, you said it ten minutes ago, oh and another ten minutes before that. She didn't dare say it out loud; it would just add fuel into the fire. Giving silence to her irate mother was something she had finally learnt to practise a few years prior.

"Go to the living room, and start the preparations. You've been in your room, all day, listening to music, and doing nothing else! Who else does that, hm?" She then answered her own question, with the confidence of someone who had travelled the whole world and observed each person's living habits, "No one but you!"

Ritsu grunted, but she did as she was told with a straight back. No need to get reprimanded for the unladylike posture.

Ms Tainaka turned around and made her way for Satoshi's room. It was his turn.

When Ritsu entered the living room, Mr Tainaka looked up from his newspaper. "Your mother's right," he said, "You should follow Shiori's example. Mannered young lady she is, and now she's also a doting wife and mother."

Fuck you too.

After the one-sided argument behind Ritsu had died down, Satoshi stumbled into the room and stood a few feet away from her. They shared a commiserating look.

Eight minutes later, Ritsu grudgingly noted, the door bell rang. She made for the front door with Satoshi right behind her, allowing both of them to receive the bluntness of six expectant faces.

After the exchange of obligatory greetings, high shrills filled the hallway. Followed by the pattering of tiny feet.

"Ri-neechan!"

"Sa-niichan!"

Ritsu immediately crouched, in order to avoid inappropriate flashing of the undergarments. She berated herself for not remembering that her cousin, Shiori, and her family would be coming to visit. Her two kids had a habit of pulling at clothes for attention; another reason why she preferred pants over skirts.

It was after the two kids were given piggybacks and a game of hide and seek did Ritsu forget her earlier disgruntlement. And from what she had so far seen, her brother shared the same sentiment.

It was interesting, Ritsu admitted; a group of loud high school kids would annoy her with complete guarantee. But a couple of (adorable) children with equal amounts of energy and noise (if not more) would do the opposite.

A hand, which was too big for a three or four year old, rested on her shoulder.

Ritsu jumped.

Shiori laughed. "It's only me. Good thing you didn't scream." She tilted her head, as if in thought. "Then again, your screams are high enough to pass as one of my kids', right?"

The disgruntlement returned. "Shut up."

"So where are they?"

"Playing hide and seek."

"Oh. So I've blown your cover. I'm sorry," Shiori said, with an expression that told Ritsu she wasn't at all apologetic. "Your birthday's coming up in … a week, right? What are—"

"In a month."

"Oh."

Ritsu watched her cousin, who steadily stared back.

"You've forgotten my birthday," Ritsu stated.

"Oh no, I just keep on thinking it's August already—"

"What's my birth date then?"

"The 16th...?"

Ritsu sighed. "It's okay, I've forgotten yours too."

"Oh." Shiori beamed. "That's good then. We're even."

The door next to them was nudged open by tiny hands, and Ritsu thought of her cousin's younger years. Maybe it was because the mother and daughter were right beside each other, now, but Shiori looked old.

Shiori was twenty-seven. Or twenty-eight. Ritsu wasn't sure. But Shiori had been an adult for almost five years now. The same amount of time the Tainaka family knew of the existence of Shiori's first child.

Souta's sister was twenty-two.

Ritsu strode forward, stepping into her room and trying to avoid the fear slicing her into four.

"Neechan! I saw you!"

Ritsu squatted down and shakily smiled. "Yeah, you saw me! Fu-chan's good at finding people."

The girl frowned. "Didn't see Niichan."

"You will see him soon."

"So go ahead, Fu-chan," Shiori said, ushering her daughter towards the hallway, "Oh and tell the others, when you see them, that this room is out of bounds, okay?"

"Out of bounds?"

"Yup. This room is out of bounds. Tell them that."

"This room is out of bounds … okay, Mama!" (Ritsu snorted at this.)

"Good girl. Have fun now." Shiori turned to Ritsu and shut the door. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Ritsu was shot with a dubious look. "Why did you have to shoo her away?"

"You want her to listen to your boy talk?" Shiori asked with an eyebrow quirk, as she claimed a huge area of Ritsu's bed to sit on.

"Huh? I wasn't going to—"

"Who said you initiated the conversation?"

Lady, my ass. "If you told my parents you're here to check on the kids. This is one long check."

"Oh, Yamato will keep them busy. He seems to be on the roll tonight at cracking jokes. And it's been so long since I've talked to you."

"I emailed you some days ago."

"Yes, emailed. Not talked. So tell me, how are things with you and…." Shiori looked as if Ritsu's birthday wasn't the only thing she had forgotten about.

"Daishiro," Ritsu said warily, positioning herself near the window. If worse came to worst, she could jump off from it and maybe skip the last week of classes due to a broken leg.

"Daishiro. Yes, how are things between you and Daishiro?"

When Ritsu showed no hints of answering, Shiori continued, "Has it gone further? More—"

"You're right. Fu-chan really shouldn't listen to this. It's sex talk now?"

Shiori shot a look. "You know what I mean."

Ritsu sighed.

First it was Reina and now it was Shiori. Was it so wrong that she was completely content at where they were right now? She had a healthy supply of sex, they used protection every time (unlike someone), Daishiro was only as moody as the average person, and they talked well enough. So she hadn't been thinking much about the future, in that aspect, since—

"You are over Renjiro, right?"

—Ren. Of course.

Ritsu was surprised Shiori remembered his name. "Of course I am. It's been ages since then."

Shiori was making the already made bed. "You were a total mess last Christmas."

Ritsu rolled her eyes as she calculated. "Well, last Christmas was … seven months ago." She shrugged. "I'm only twenty. Lemme enjoy life a bit, will ya?"

Ritsu didn't like the sympathetic glance.

"You know," Shiori started, now openly admiring the old curtains that adorned the window. It was almost as if she was afraid to show too much pity.

Ritsu pointedly stared at the messed bed.

"It's funny," Shiori continued, "Eight years ago, I was just like you. I was only twenty and all I wanted was to enjoy life and be free—"

"So you are twenty-eight!"

"You'd forgotten my age…?" Shiori deadpanned.

Ritsu grinned easily. "Sorry, sorry. Go on."

The curtains were ignored now. "I do worry about you, you know."

Ritsu's expression dropped. "Shiori," she managed; it had been years since she openly referred to her as an adored older sister and the return of it wasn't happening any time soon, "you have two kids, not three. I can take care of myself."

Shiori locked eyes for a moment, or two, before lowering her gaze to the ground. She nodded. "You're right."

Ritsu exhaled in unheard agreement.

Shiori clicked her tongue. "Gee, I am getting old."

"Yeah, I see wrinkles now."

"Oh shut up. I'm not that old."

They both giggled over the forced comfort until there was a call from the four year old.

Shiori stood up and made for the door. "I'd better start checking on them then."

"Yeah," Ritsu said, knowing it didn't reach her cousin's ears.

Well, that was easy.

ooo

An hour later, the kids were coaxed off Satoshi's back and ushered into Shiori's family car.

"I shouldn't have gone to the gym earlier," Satoshi complained as he rolled his shoulders. "What's Shi-nee been feeding them with? They're tough for little kids."

Ritsu inwardly smiled. Her brother seemed to have kept the childhood endearment for Shiori. "You were a tough little kid too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You'd break my stuff and make all these annoying tantrums."

"…Wasn't that you?"

"Hey! I handled your stuff with great care!"

"You tried to sell them to our neighbours," Satoshi deadpanned.

Ritsu crossed her arms. "But they were satisfied customers. And I gave you 30% profit."

"People think I have two sisters, you know. They meet the nice you and then they hear about your—"

"You talk bad stuff about me?"

Satoshi stopped moving his shoulders and started on flexing his neck. "I was kidding, Nee-chan. Only Suzuki thinks there are two sisters."

Ritsu couldn't bring herself to nod; be relieved from the fact that her cool sister image was still intact. Because the last time Satoshi's friend had visited, it was a most awkward affair. "…Please tell me he's stopped crushing on me."

"He has."

"Really?"

Satoshi waved dismissively. "Don't worry 'bout it."

"You do know that does the complete opposite, right? What you're doing."

Satoshi grinned. "Taste your own medicine."

"Whaddya mean?"

"You seriously don't know you do that—thing—a lot?"

Ritsu blinked. "But that's 'cause you seriously don't need to worry about it."

"Well, same here. Don't worry about it."

"Really?"

"Really. He didn't know you have a boyfriend then. That's why. He knows now."

"Oh. Oh, okay. Great. I'm still gonna avoid you guys when you're in the living room though."

"Sure. You hog the controllers too much anyway."

Ms Tainaka appeared behind the bathroom door. "Bath's ready. Who's using it?"

The siblings glanced at each other.

Ritsu shrugged. "You go first. You did more piggy-backing."

Satoshi perked up. "Thanks Nee-chan!" Taking his towel and pyjamas, he dashed off.

"Remember to brush your teeth," their mother said in mid-yawn.

Ritsu nodded sluggishly. Satoshi answered with an energetic door slam.

After Ms Tainaka had gone upstairs, Satoshi stuck his head out. "Nee-chan."

"Hm?"

"Fu-chan accidentally broke one of The Who's DVDs."

Ritsu's towel angrily met the closed door.

ooo

The assignment that was due in a week and was worth a quarter of the marks Ritsu could get—was lying by her elbow, forgotten. The running cassette player and a book full of printed photos held the brunette's attention instead. Procrastination at one of its finest.

Ritsu thumbed over a page, and stared. It was a photo of a couple cuddling in bed, assumingly in the morning—judging by the colours of natural light on the curtains and the newspaper on the duvet. There was also a clock on the bedside table, but Ritsu couldn't read the time on it.

Am I gonna be like those two one day?

Ritsu tilted her head and mentally photoshopped it.

The clock got crossed eyes. An appropriate prop in the family photo Azusa kept.

"And we're Houkago Teatime!"

The player clicked, notifying its media's end. Ritsu rewound it.

Creating the tape had been hard work. The school bell and PA system hadn't helped, and it wasn't as if they wanted it be as professionally done as possible. But it would be nice that only Houkago Teatime was heard throughout the recording. And maybe a bit of their advisor.

So it was agreed that they would make five copies for memorabilia. Ritsu had kept hers with the DVDs and CDs in her room, and it was only now—three years later—did she get to listen to it again. She didn't think any of them would bother to go back to Sakura High for that.

And then there was that one time Ritsu had lingered after classes, and had bumped into Azusa near the car park. After Ritsu had gotten over the shock that the youngest out of the five was the first to own a car, she had suggested in paying their high school a visit.

Azusa had gawked at her.

"What?" Ritsu had said.

"…Oh, you're actually serious. I was kind of expecting you to tell me to drive you to the beach or some other impossible place."

"Eh, I only do that when I wanna be frustrating."

"I thought that's all the time with you…."

If the situation had happened a year or two before, Ritsu would have given Azusa a chokehold until they had reached her car. Instead, Ritsu gave a mild pout and gestured Azusa to get a move on.

They had visited. They had a quick walkabout of the place, and had chased Yamanaka Sawako down and had informed her that her wrinkles were visible now. Ritsu had been glad that looks didn't kill and a teacher had been making his way to them, and they had left.

The music room was in use, and intimidating.

In retrospect, Azusa would've been the last person Ritsu thought of when it came to visiting Sakura Hill High School. Mio was highly plausible. Tsumugi wasn't as farfetched. And Yui…?

The player had finished rewinding.

"President," came Yui's voice, "what is 'after school' to you?"

"Let's see…." Ritsu winced at her sudden, introspective tone. "A waste of time?"

Mio had been quick to agree.

ooo

The upbeat rhythm of Rice is a Side Dish was muffled.

Ritsu lifted her head and rubbed her eyes before she made a grab for her phone.

"Hello?"

Ritsu jerked the phone away, wincing. Before she tentatively moved the phone back to her ear, she lowered the volume and glanced at the caller ID. It wasn't shared.

Shit. Someone's pranking me.

"Hello?" Ritsu repeated, louder this time.

"Heeey, Ritsu!"

Someone that sounds exactly like a drunken … wait—

"Mio? What the—are you—where are you?"

"Karaoke's so fun! You should've came. Aka—"

Ritsu's abrupt awakening didn't help in processing Mio's words. "Who? What?"

"Anyways, I was singing, you know—and then I realised I could do this! Listen."

Ritsu did listen. And she instantly regretted it. Mio sounded like a litter of puppies fighting over a shoe. It was not as cute as one would think.

"So?" Mio asked.

"Huh?"

There was a giggle. "Did I sound like Ton-chan?"

Ritsu gaped. Ton-chan? She was being Ton-chan?

"Uh, Mio. Maybe you shouldn't—"

"I didn't, did I? Lemme try it again."

"No—"

Hyperactive, hungry puppies.

Ritsu tried to rub away the crease on her forehead, foreseeing a headache. "Mio, go and drink some water before you're knocked out. Or you're gonna regret it and I'm going to say, 'I told you so.'"

"Hm…? You told me what?"

Ritsu sighed heavily. Yet she couldn't help but be amused as she repeated, "Drink some water, Mio."

"Hmmm, okay!"

"Good night."

"Good night, Ritsu!"

Ritsu flipped over the pillow, turned the mobile to offline mode and relaxed.

Good night, Mio.

ooooo
End of Chapter

A/N: There's a reason why I added 'POV: Ritsu' at the start of chapter 1. This fic has unreliable narration, considering it's from one perspective. Just saying this to mess your minds, in regard to chapter two.

Notes:
— lol, I initially used 'eraser' to lessen the confusion to those that haven't heard the stationery being referred to as a 'rubber' before. Then I changed it at the last minute because "unintended" innuendo is funny. =D A-and then you won't be confused in the future if someone else uses 'rubber' instead of 'eraser'? See, I'm helping you!