She feels like she is forgetting something important.
Very, very important.
It matters to her life and death.
Something that she has protected since young and since her entrance in high school.
Something that she can be honest about, being frank about, is delighted about.
Something that she never misses, even when she is bed-ridden, flu-infected.
Something that involves singing and dancing, a passion that she has come to know of.
What could it be? Hanayo furrows her eyebrows, scrunches her nose, her throat producing disapproval noises for her mind not cooperating with her.
"Hanayo?" Umi calls, concerned of her well-being.
"Ah. Umi-chan." Hanayo acknowledges. Seeing Umi's questioning gaze, "N- Nothing important." She chuckles awkwardly. "I hope." She adds, whispering loud only to her ears, yet heard by both Nozomi and Kotori.
"Of what?" Kotori-chan had to ask about it. Hanayo chuckles awkwardly.
"N- Nothing." She chuckles again, uncomfortable as four pair of eyes look directly towards her as she shifts in her seating on the bed, feeling edgy from the stares.
"I see." Umi resumes her briefing on the plan after eyeing Hanayo for a while. Hanayo wills for herself to listen.
What could it be? She unconsciously frowns, her eyes swirls with light red, still unnoticeable to other normal people inside the dim lit room. She barely notes of the exchanges that follow after.
"So, straightforward as always, we're going directly towards the head family of the Mido, the sooner the better, try to avoid unnecessary battles and be careful. As for the roles-" Umi gestures towards herself, "-Backup." She looks towards Hanayo, "- Surveillance." She looks towards Kotori, "-Heal." She looks towards Nozomi, "-Front." She looks towards Eri, "-Here."
"Hey." Eri grumps, her face unamused by the joke pulled by Umi. The three others chuckles lightly.
"Ok fine. There." Umi points towards Nozomi's side.
"Not funny, Umi. Not funny." Eri huffs, crossing her arms, her face slightly tinges with red. Umi smiles before turning serious.
"The Koizumi is going to provide us a few of their people and of course, Nozomi's allies-" Nozomi subtly stiffs. "I apologise. I didn't mean it as such."
"No. It's fine." Nozomi grins, then her eyes narrow playfully. "But if you say it again, I'm going to punish you." She flexes her hands.
"O- Ok. Let's just leave it like that." Hanayo chuckles, snapping back to reality before unconsciously roams back to her previous worry.
What could it be? Hanayo feels like crying from the sheer frustration of not having the general idea of her worry.
"For further clarification, I'll provide middle and far ranged backup with my bow and arrow. " Umi nods towards her archery set. "Hanayo."
"Yes?!"
"Are you okay? You seemed dazed." Umi worriedly inquires.
"I- I'm fine." Hanayo offers, smiling. Umi seems to buy her excuse, her gaze tells something different. She wills for herself to pay attention towards Umi's briefing again.
"Hanayo is going to provide aerial support, namely rocks-"
"Ho." Nozomi interjects, amused by the detailed explanation. Umi smiles as well as Hanayo.
"And she will survey the area." Umi stops. "Perchance they know we're here, are they readying themselves?" She asks Nozomi.
"Their noses know my scent, it must be."
"I understand." Umi nods. "Kotori is going to heal any of the wounded." Her gaze softens. "Be careful, okay, Kotori?" Her tone comforting, soothing, it makes Nozomi smirking with ideas to tease them – Hanayo subtly ducks her head, snickering lowly.
"Ah. Umi-chan isn't worried about me." Nozomi dramatically sighs, putting her hand on top of her forehead, her expression solemn. Everybody snaps their attention towards Nozomi's acting. "Who am I?" She gestures theatrically to herself. "Who are you?" She extends her hand towards an unfazed Umi. "Ah. The shock is too great for my feeble mind to handle, all of my beautiful memories are gone due to it." She exaggerated her sigh as she lands herself on the bed.
All of them snigger before bursting out laughing. Hanayo wipes her tears as she chuckles. Nozomi rises back up again.
"10." Eri claps, smiling proudly.
"9." Umi follows. Nozomi puts on her bored expression.
"Really, Umi-chan?" Umi nods, smiling in amusement.
"Okay, we're finished playing. Let's continue." She stops. "How can we all be playing one second and be serious a second after?" She asks incredulous by the previous event.
"It's because we're friends, there's not supposed to be any limitations between us." Eri replies. "Including our insanity in doing things." She pulls a pillow closer to her chest. "Together, isn't that sounds refreshing?" She nods. "Harasho."
Muse, huh? Muse… hm…
"Yes." All of them engulf themselves in comfortable silence. "Let's continue, shall we?" They nod. "Since Nozomi says that Kotori is among her powerful alli- friends-" Umi gulps. "By the way, can you explain why, Nozomi?" She ends her sentence, definitely feeling the mischievous glare from Nozomi. Nozomi huffs.
"Her healing powers rival none of those I've seen." Nozomi states. "I've confirmed that. Hanayo-chan too." Hanayo nods.
"The mixing venom and blood however seems to have little effect on her ability, though my power to control her is cancelled, definitely connected to the mixing as I researched at Hanayo's library." Nozomi rubs her chin. "It looks to me that Kotori-chan is free like a bird, not under any controls. Even us will need to follow our parents' order, since they're our masters." She shrugs. "Unless they die, after that we are free." Umi shares glances with Eri.
"Her attacks, hm…" Nozomi shrugs.
"It seems like we have to find out then." Umi nods, confirming of her own statement. "Nozomi is going to be the front, rallying others and lead the way." She looks towards Eri. "Eri… Eri is-"
"I'm staying here, unmoving, as always." Eri clutches her pillow tighter.
"Sorry, Eri." Umi solemnly apologises.
"It's fine. It's not like I have powers or abilities- Oh wait. I can do fencing." She looks towards her bag. "Probably I'll just stay here." She shrugs. Umi nods.
Umi reviews her piece of paper once more, "Any questions?" She sweeps her gaze across the figures inside the hotel room. "We're executing an hour after this, and then we'll go home. No more of this… territory wars."
She looks towards Nozomi. "Nozomi, guard your territory well." She finishes, Nozomi nods once.
Now that the briefing's over, what could it be?
"Umi-chan sounds like a general before war." Kotori comments, smiling softly. Hanayo glances towards Kotori's clothing. Hm.
"What if she is?" Eri butts in, smugly smiling towards a blushing Umi. Eri puts on her serious expression, "I am Sonoda Umi, the general of- Ouch!" Eri's voice increases after every word before being smacked by Umi. She smiles victoriously towards Umi.
"What are you saying, Eri?! Stop playing!" Umi reprimands, her face further reddens. Eri raises her hands in defeat, smirking. Hanayo glances towards Umi's clothing. Hmm.
"Then me. I have a question." Eri puts her hand up in the air. Umi glares towards Eri. "What about the others? Honoka and Maki? Nico? Rin?"
Honoka-chan. Honoka-chan... Nico-chan? Hanayo cradles her head in annoyance.
"Honoka is at home, studying. I've warned her about her death sentence if she fails the next week's quiz, so she should be at home." Eri nods. "Nico… I don't know much. Maki is also the same. Rin. Rin is…" Umi looks towards Hanayo. "Hanayo."
"Y- Yes?!" Hanayo shouts, startled by the sudden call. "Oh. Rin-chan, she told me that she and the others are having a rare club activity. She didn't tell me what it is though." She looked really troubled by the looks of it. "Rin-chan says that Nico-chan is going to punish us for not participating in the rare club activity."
I suppose my worry have something to do with Nico-chan.
Umi and Eri hums in acknowledgment, while Kotori and Nozomi starts lying down on the bed. Hanayo glances towards her bag at the end of the hotel room. Hmm?
Hanayo scrambles towards her bag, the others eyed her curiously. Hmm?!
She gulps. Uh-oh.
"What to do?" She slumps defeated in front of her bag, her hand already reaches out for said object – pamphlet.
A-RISE's pamphlet.
Concert.
Tonight!
Half an hour before it starts!
"Somebody, please help me!~"
~(-.-)~ - Writing in the wee hours of the morning sure makes you write weird things, for the last two chapters. Sheesh. I apologise for that.