Chapter 1

Together Again at Last

Hina Hikawa gazed at thousands of empty seats before her. It was total silence and the stage was dimly lit. The scene before the girl was the total opposite of what occurred a few hours back.

Hina turned around. Heavy musical instruments like drums, keyboards, and DJ decks were already moved from the set; leaving only sound systems and a bunch of cables. She picked up a guitar cable, plugged it to her aqua blue guitar, then turned on the amplifier.

The guitarist of Pastel✽Palettes sat on the edge of the stage. She played the riff of "Luminous Once Again" and hummed on its melody.

"Hina, are you there?"

Hina stopped her fingers and waved at the person who had just arrived at the scene. "Onee-chan! Let's play together!"

Sayo Hikawa appeared from behind the curtain. The older one of Hikawa twins had changed into a blouse and a pair of leggings. Two coats were on hand; one of which belonged to Hina. She was also carrying a guitar on her back.

"I've been looking for you everywhere," Sayo said while walking toward Hina. The long-haired girl looked around the dark arena in a frown. "What are you even doing here?"

Hina gave her sister a gleeful smile and continued playing. "I wanna perform on this stage forever~"

"Don't be silly, Hina," said Sayo as she pulled the sleeve of Hina's flannel shirt. She gave her a stern look. "It's time to go home."

"You know what; I've been dreaming to stand on the same stage with you for two years," Hina said. The girl reminisced the day when she pleaded with her parents to buy her a guitar, then took part in the band audition for Pastel✽Palettes. She grinned at Sayo, then added, "And today my dream finally came true! Our guitar medley was super duper boppin'!"

"That's—" Sayo said. Her glance was shifted elsewhere. "—Your dream, huh..."

Sayo went all statue-y; barely moved and even stopped blinking. Hina knew her sister's habit. Sayo usually did that whenever she was lost in thought.

"...who would've thought we'd work so well together?"

"Then, why don't we zap another song together next time?"

"Well… I must say, performing with you once in a while isn't so bad after all."

Hina let out a smug. "Onee-chan, you're blushing~" teased the younger twin.

"No, I'm not!" Sayo objected. It didn't help, as her cheeks became even redder instead.

Hina giggled. After all this time, her sister still tended to go awkward whenever she expressed her feelings to Hina. Still, their current relationship was way better than during their middle to early high school days.

"Oh, or we can jam right here, right now! It's gonna be whaaam!"

"We're going home. Period."

"Awww, you're no fun." Hina pouted. "C'mon, let's play for a lil' bit… I know you enjoyed our time jamming together. You were smiling during our performance."

"Me, smiling?" Sayo crossed her arms and looked away. "I believe you mistook me for Seta-san."

Hina giggled. "You do realize that you and Kaoru-kun don't have any teeny-weeny resemblance, right?"

Sayo rolled her eyes.

Hina lightly tapped the set's wooden floorings; signaling her sister to join in.

"Pretty please...?"

"...fine," Sayo sighed. "We're going to miss the last train if we keep arguing like this."

"Kokoro-chan offered to take us home, tho?"

"I turned down the offer. You've done enough trouble with your antics."

Sayo readied her guitar, then sat beside her younger sister. Hina quietly observed as the guitarist of Roselia did some soundcheck.

"Onee-chan, what song should we—"

Sayo suddenly went from sound check to performing an actual song. Hina opened her mouth in surprise when she recognized the melody Sayo was producing.

"Happy birthday, Hina."

"Eh?"

Sayo didn't make eye contact with the recipient of the song, as she gazed at the audiences' seats instead.

"Happy birthday, Hina..."

What's going on?

Sayo finally shifted her gaze and looked straight at Hina. Their identical green eyes met. She strummed the strings of her guitar at a slower tempo.

"Happy birthday, my dear sister…."

Hina was left speechless. They celebrated their eighteenth birthday just three days back, but still, she didn't expect Sayo to go singing a birthday song for her now.

"Happy birthday... to you."

Sayo smiled warmly as she finished the song.

What do I do?! My heart isn't ready for this!

"Thank you for always being there in these eighteen years and nine months, even during the years I drifted away—" Sayo paused. The smile had faded. Her jade-colored pair of eyes were filled with sadness now. "—And treat you awfully."

Hina didn't think she deserved that gratitude. It was natural for her to stay right by her sister's side. They were twins, after all. And she just loved her sister so much. Sayo Hikawa, the coolest person in the whole world.

And Sayo even counted the time when they were still inside their mother's womb...

Hina's vision went blurry. Her cheeks became wet due to tears flowing from her eyes.

"Hina, I—"

Hina wrapped her arms around Sayo. "Onee-chan, you meanie! Today's supposed to be a boppinly happy day, full of smiles!" she said between her sobs. "But… but you're making me all teary like this..."

Sayo returned the hug. "I'm sorry for ruining your day… and for being three days late," she replied. "I just can't bring myself to express this in front of the others."

Hina could imagine Sayo being all flustered again, with her blush and all.

"You stupid sister of mine...! This is the best moment of all!"