One arrived at the mysterious, lavish mansion where the party was being held. It was actually just Yukari's average sized house she was told, but she would never correct her buddy's overzealous words. Upon approaching the door, her own scatterbrained thoughts were being drowned out by the deafening noise - loud music, talking, laughing, screaming and singing, just to name a few of the chaotic sounds. Yukari had a bad habit of letting friends invite friends, which resulted in a cluster of rowdy people she mostly didn't know, but the purplette didn't mind it. Yukari was as social as a chubby dog at a barbecue; she just worried about weirdos knowing her address.
Knock knock knock.
One pounded her balled fist with all of her might, hearing the door react to the beating. Or, lack of. No one, not even someone with ultrasonic hearing would hear that due to the noise already inside. "Ah, I don't have to knock, what am I thinking..." One uttered to herself, her bobbed cut gently swaying as she shook her head, the night wind blowing condescendingly.
The young girl placed her hand on the knob with a hastened pace, and as the holy gate to her adult freedom revealed itself, a familiar spunky individual darted to her position. "ONE!" Yukari screeched like a vampire looking at a blood infused red velvet cupcake - there was so much excitement and desire pouring out of her violet orbs. She was really happy to see her; she almost feared someone had caught her and banned the light blonde from going out. "There's someone I want you to meet~!" she sang. "You already know her, but she's been waiting for you this whole time! C'mon, let's go," Yukari gripped One's dainty wrist, practically dragging her to the undisclosed location, One's fluttering heart beating out of her chest in anticipation.
"W-Who is it?" One asked, silently thanking the galaxy Yukari was holding her wrist instead of her hand. She didn't know for sure, but she feared it was a little sweaty... as embarrassing as it was to admit to herself.
One knew it was Sasara, who else could it be? Yukari practically used it as a bribe to get her to attend. She had weeks to prepare, but the butterflies in her stomach wouldn't leave her alone. She was seconds away from locking eyes with her pretty, sweet, kind, mesmerizing crush, how was she supposed to act in this situation?
Yukari chuckled in reply. "Who do you think it is?" They approached Sasara closer and closer every second, Yukari winking at One like a big sister taking the younger sibling under her wing. "Sasa! Look who it is!" She released the girl from her firm grip, the hostage wincing. Although, One was too captivated by the beauty in front of her eyes to reflect on a trivial hint of discomfort for too long.
Church bells rang softly. Angels sang a breathtaking ballad. A sudden, blinding spot light focused its heavenly, pure white on the brunette just inches in front of her grasp.
Maybe One was imagining it a slight bit, but it was almost too real for her to dismiss. It was Sasara, looking indescribably gorgeous in an eggshell colored dress - her wavy hair gently tapping her predominant shoulder due to her adorable side pigtail. The scent of her light, fruity perfume tickling the young girl's sinuses ever so lightly - allowing her to pick up subtle hints of pomegranate and strawberry, mixing to create a sweet scent with a classy punch. Her wide, chocolate eyes were sparkling even in the dim party atmosphere, looking back at her with an organic kindness.
The glittery eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara left no surviving stomach butterfly unscathed. It was an understatement to say she was the spitting image of beauty to One. It wasn't the first time they had ever seen each other, but Sasara was so pretty dressed up in her best clothing, it was hard for it not to seem like love at first sight. It was... the first time they saw each other like that.
"Hello, One!" said beauty called out while beaming an angelic smile, cup of whatever liquid she was drinking at the moment firmly in hand. "How are you doing tonight? Your outfit is really pretty," she cooed a compliment in a soft tone, One trying her best not to get lost in an inner (in love) monologue.
"H-Hey, Sasara! I'm good, what about you?" she let out a slightly nervous giggle, grinning back as she fought the urge to admire her fashion once more. She had talked to Sasara plenty of times, why was she acting like they were just awkwardly introduced to each other? "O-Oh, this?" she pointed at herself. "No, I can't accept that! Yours is way prettier," she joked with a hardy laugh. She didn't know how she missed the sugar sweet compliment on the first run - she desperately tried her best to brush it off nonchalantly. Perhaps she was so engulfed in her own thoughts she assumed she imagined it, like a delusional otaku imagining his waifu speaking to him... so embarrassing. She was embarrassing herself! One, get it together!
Sasara glanced down at her own appearance, a light blush making itself known across the apples of her cheeks. "A-Ah, I can't accept that either!" she stuck her small hands out, shaking them in a 'you've got it all wrong!' motion, her new red tint rapidly increasing as the seconds ticked. "B-But... thank you... so much," she gripped her eggshell dress with the free hand that wasn't holding the blue juice, looking down in a shy manner; a faint bashful, yet giddy smile creeping up her lips.
"Don't mention it! It's the truth, you look really beautiful," she nodded in assurance, a ketchup colored blush painting her own round cheeks. Sasara really was pretty... 'Ah! You're coming on too strong! What if you're being weird?' Her head was full of such self deprecating thoughts. But... she did want Sasara to catch onto her feelings, right? Maybe even have it seen... as flirting.
As the minutes passed, the two slowly but surely began to stand in pure silence, although it wasn't an awkward quietness. It was a comforting one, at that - it felt shockingly nice that they could stare aimlessly at each other and it not be weird.
Or at the very least, not be too weird.
Sasara spoke up. "So, has Yukarin handed you a cup of this blue drink yet? It's really good, apparently she got it imported from America!" she asked, followed by a sip.
"Eh? It has alcohol in it?" One questioned in a shocked, one pitch away from yelling and alarming the other party goers toned voice; her eyes bugging out like someone just told her Ia was behind her. Recently, One took a liking to American TV shows - she knew nothing about the country outside of its media, but somehow, no matter a family sitcom or hip teen show, there was a drink involved. Or maybe it just seemed like that, and the young girl just happened to stumble upon shows that had similar themes.
"What? No, who told you that?" Sasara objected, her facial expression growing into a puzzled state with a hint of concern. Was one of those 'weirdos' that Yukari feared lurking around here, somewhere? Yukari always told them to tell her if someone gave them bad vibes, so she could kick them out immediately. She really cared about her friends, and her younger ones especially. Because of that, One and Sasara never felt unsafe hanging around her - they knew she would beat some freak's butt if she had to!
One froze up. Why did she spit that out so carelessly? She cried internally, feeling like a total unapologetic, unaware dummy. "Uh, forget I said anything!" she squeaked, her voice mimicking a sick frog with how garbled she made it, basking in her sudden mistake. The cartoonish voice was... her way of saying I'm sorry? Comic relief? She did that without thinking too, she didn't know. "Now that you bring it up, I'm thirsty! I'm going to grab myself a cup, do you want anything?" Before the brunette could even think of a reply, like a lavender flash of lightning, a special someone appeared by resting a hand on One's shoulder.
The girl being grasped jumped in surprise. "You're thirsty alright, One," Yukari laughed with a teasing, smug grin, handing the light blonde a cup of said beverage. One accepted the gift with a bashful smile. "It's kool-aid, Tsurumaki Maki bought a packet or a hundred when she was visiting America, nothing special! Just sugar flavored water with artificial coloring. I thought it would be fun to taste test," she cleared the dubious nature surrounding the foreign drink. Possibly... to distract Sasara.
Suddenly, the lavender girl leaned in with a plan in mind. It was one she felt very strongly about, therefore she came dangerously close to One's still stained red ear, and whispered: "Don't feel like you have to find a way out over a petty sentence, kid! Stay with your girl, I've got your back!" Yukari passionately insisted, her big sister act pouring through her well meaning words like it always did. Which was followed by the little sister's eyes widening for the tenth time in the span of ten minutes.
"Huh?" One questioned, immediately getting cut off by Yukari.
"Sasa!" the brunette looked up in surprise - granted, she wasn't really paying too much attention to the situation. Yukarin's evil plan was already working. "One!" the purplette called out to her, even though she already had her full attention on the older girl. "How about we play a game? Does spin the bottle sound good?" she cooed, her master plan's complete purpose still hiding itself in her own pink brain. Yukari was so excited; she could hardly wait for the payoff and one could clearly tell by her actions and tone of voice. "You can sit down where Maki is if you wanna play," she pointed, winking like it was signature.
"Spin the bottle?" Sasara blushed, innocence pouring out of her fingertips as she bashfully looked down. Gosh, she couldn't help but feel like the whole time she had been there her face was dyed a deep crimson... "That game's so embarrassing..." she twiddled her thumbs. "I'm determined to not get too shy when it's my turn to kiss! I'm in!" And without further complaining, she dashed over to form a two person circle with Maki.
One tilted her head in confusion, feeling slightly... no, a lot. An immense amount of panic. Her crush was going to kiss another girl? WHAT?! "Kiss? Maki and Sasara are going to kiss?" she turned to her trustworthy, non-related big sister, a dying look of 'HELP ME FIX THIS!' clawing its way down her body to compliment her distressed facial expression.
"Shhh, any louder and Sasara will hear!" Yukari hushed with a whisper, the lavender girl's hands going on the younger girl's shoulders once more. "This is all part of my plan. Actually, our plan, because I know you have a raging lesbian crush on Sasa and I'm going to help you out with that!" she triumphantly grinned, looking awfully like a cheshire cat impersonator. Such a big, up-to-something smile.
"BY MAKING SASARA KISS ANOTHER GIRL?" she cried out exasperated, conveniently brushing over the fact Yukari knew she had a crush on, well, her crush, when she thought she hid it from everyone so well. "Wait... how do you know I have a crush on Sasara?"
She responded to One's puzzled question with a light chuckle. "It's obvious!" she proudly placed her hands on her hips, looking back at the girl with a smirk. She purposely didn't list the time One told Yukari how gorgeous she thought Sasara was... or the time she said if she was to have a girlfriend (hypothetically) she would want it to be Sasara. Among other, one off sentences that could possibly be mistaken for 'best friend activity,' but little did One know Yukarin paid close attention to it all. She truly cared about the people in her life, and whether that was listening about how stressful the upcoming math test was going to be, or something personal like a crush, Yukari shoved everything in her own life away to focus on her precious friend. It was why she was so popular, after all; she may have a rough and tough exterior, but on the inside, her heart was soft like a strawberry scented teddy bear.
One visibly was getting more distressed. "What do you mean by that?"
Yukari shrugged. It was in character for One to think she was being secretive when she was the opposite, Yukari had been friends with her long enough to know that. Even if it was one-sided knowledge. "Forget that, what's important here is that I tell you the plan's details! Maki and I are going to pull out the second the bottle starts to spin so you and Sasara are the only ones left, and to sum it up, BAM! You guys kiss, sparks fly, and you walk out of here girlfriends. Oh, and Maki's in on it too, if that wasn't obvious."
One giggled nervously. Yukarin was acting quite... eccentric with this, and to be blunt, she didn't have full faith in the plan. There were... plot holes. "Won't Sasara question why you two suddenly left? What if she doesn't like me back? More importantly, I'm going to kiss her before I properly confess?" she asked, her voice speeding up with every question.
"Don't worry about that, kiddo! You really think I'd propose an idea to you that wasn't already bullet proof?" One shook her head. It was an odd idea (an extremely odd one, at that), but she couldn't say it made her doubt the lavender girl's quirky abilities. "See? You said it yourself! Now let's go sit down, your girl's waiting for you, after all! Have some confidence, you're a catch - any young lady would be lucky to have you!" Yukari uttered with a warm, truthful smile, leading her to their small circle of participants with a lazy arm on One's shoulder. Was this what a mature life was like? If it is, or has the potential to be... One was open to trying it. She wanted to be an independent grown up so bad, she was okay with diving head in, even if she was internally losing her mind.
The short haired girl awkwardly sat down across from her crush, wanting to make eye contact but being a little too timid to. Yukari followed, sitting down directly in front of Maki, while One nervously fidgeted with her hands. "Y'all know how to play spin the bottle, don't cha?" Maki asked, chugging the rest of her ramune soda and setting it down in the middle. She grinned at Yukari, a small laugh escaping her throat. Probably because they were in cahoots with each other, leaving Sasara completely oblivious and One a single candle from being in the dark about it.
"Of course we do, Maki! Let's get on with it, who's it gonna land on?" Yukari eagerly replied, smiling at the blonde back as Maki began to spin the bottle at a rapid speed (as the game's title implied). One watched it intently, barely being able to keep up with it as the bottle swirled. She felt like she was seconds away from getting hypnotized at how intensely she looked at in swaying in its circle.
Or maybe she was just getting dizzy...
—-
BANG!
Ia's sparkling ocean eyes popped open from a deep R.E.M sleep. It had to be pretty late judging by the pitch black room and her immediate disoriented thoughts, which made her wonder if the obnoxious 'bang' was purely a dream... but she had a weird, unshakable feeling that what she heard was real.
What exactly was that loud, mysterious sound? Ia started to internally question, still laying under the covers and staring at the ceiling, trying to rationalize it. Something falling from a shelf? The air conditioner breaking? A cat running on top of the roof, or jumping up and down? The last theory was a little out there (she was tired), but it was always startling to hear a loud noise in the dead of night.
No matter how much Ia wanted to, she couldn't fall back asleep with a clear conscience now, not with a million possibilities racing through her mind and making her worry. A burglar? Someone up to no good? She wondered, practically torturing herself with horror movie-like scenarios. Still hazy and feeling like she was half in a dream, she jolted up and tried to be as alert as possible.
She had a primal urge to investigate.
"Is One up? I hope that wasn't her falling down... or worse, something falling on her..." she mumbled, her pulse quickening as she pictured the magnum opus of worst scenarios - her sister getting injured. "I need to go check on her," she sweat. And without thinking about it for more than a couple seconds, she darted to the younger girl's room like a cheetah protecting its cub. There was no way she was going to risk One being in trouble and not be there for her.
Knock knock knock.
"One? Are you okay?" she banged on the young girl's door, but received no reaction whatsoever; unless the wood crying from the force counts. "O-One? Are you okay? Are you asleep?" she repeated, like they were the only phrases she knew how to say. The silence added to Ia's anxiety, piercing through her sensitive heart like a dagger. Although she was trying her best to not invade the teenager's privacy, some rules had to be broken in dire circumstances - and unfortunately, this was one of those situations. "One, I'm coming in, alright?" she squeaked with every last bit of courage and love for her sister, mentally preparing herself for whatever gruesome image lied behind the bedroom door.
In dire circumstances, some rules had to be broken.
This was not one of those situations.
"ONE?" Ia screamed, her blue eyes meeting an empty bed's comforter. And several unwanted outfits laying across it, makeup of all kinds haphazardly sitting on her vanity, fruity perfume making the room stink as its top was nowhere to be seen. Ia didn't have to stare for long for her reality to sink in.
One was gone. Not only gone, but she snuck out when her older sister was peacefully asleep, unsuspecting to the demented horrors she would awake to. Ia knew the bare minimum about irresponsible teen culture, but it didn't take a genius to figure the situation out.
And it definitely didn't take a brain surgeon to assume who she was with.
"That... that lavender girl!" Ia cursed, tears threatening to pour down her sweaty, red, worked up face. Her sister was slipping away from not only herself, but from a normal life of getting good grades to ensure you get into a good college, to get good grades in college to ensure you get a good job, to get a good job so you make a good salary and become a functioning member of society!
She was so scared of losing her. She was so scared of One losing herself. In that moment, while it had the bitter possibility of ending in complete emotional turmoil for the siblings (and most likely - no, definitely would), she would have done anything. Whatever drastic measure she had to take, she would claw at her chance to do it, no matter the cost. She wasn't going to let Yuzuki Yukari anywhere near her beloved One, and influence her to live a delinquent's hopeless lifestyle.
BUZZ!
While Ia was desperately trying to piece together a dangerous plan, an artificial light made the room glow white. It was so bright she couldn't ignore it, she was forced to step forward and examine the mystery item.
"One... One's phone..." The notification wasn't anything important - specifically, it was one of those free to play video games, alerting the user her virtual cats needed to be fed or something along those lines.
But... if Ia used this to find out where One was, she could locate her, and bring her home safely. She wouldn't have to stay up all night, practically throwing up worrying about her sister's well being. One wouldn't have to be scared and disturbed in whatever toxic, inappropriate place she was being held captive. Ia could save her. Not only from this terrible situation, but from everything. From... whatever this phase was.
"One, you still didn't put a password on your phone? I told you months ago, what if someone steals it and takes your personal information..." she tried to block out any thoughts of that criminal-like person being her. It was to save her. She hated having to do something as invasive and selfish as going through her phone - but she was given no choice. Never once did she ever think of doing this before today... Ia trusted One.
But, nothing was forever, she guessed.
Ia assumed her text messages would be a good place to start. Or maybe a social media app? She could only look through one at a time, and she decided on the texts abruptly.
"Yuzuki Yukari..." she stared at the contact. "You have her number... you texted her and never told me..." she couldn't think too much about it. She would cry, and looking through text messages for (what she hoped) a location would be too difficult through fresh tears. She clicked on their chat log and scrolled, haphazardly skimming them as she had no time to waste.
"An address. I found it, she's right here. Hah, I don't know whether or not I should be happy or terrified," she looked at it with such fearful, shaking eyes.
In her pajamas? Late at night, walking to an unknown location that had unsavory events going on? Would Ia really be okay?
She had no time to think about herself.