Thicker than Blood
Uzuki was tapping her foot excitedly, humming to the tune of Kizuna Music inside the otherwise empty elevator. They had just arrived at their hotel an hour ago, and each of them got their own rooms. Rarely would the company splurge on such luxuries, but they allowed it after some bargaining from their end. Also because the hotel was far closer to the venue than the office and dorms. After settling in, she bid farewell to her friends and was now making her way down to the lobby. The ding of the elevator signaled her arrival, as the door opened allowing her to walk out, her place being taken by the people who had waited.
She walked to the middle of the lobby, her gaze trailing through the floor as she slowly spun, looking for exactly one person during this calm day. When she finished a full rotation, she pouted, unable to find the person she was looking for. On a whim, she then made her way towards the food court. Her brown eyes scanned the opulent facility, and smiled when she found them.
She practically skipped over to the table where the person was sitting at, his attention focused on the work in his laptop with an empty plate and a half drunk cup of coffee beside it. He didn't notice her approaching him.
"Producer." She called out with a hint of a smile on her face.
A ghost of a flinch, showing her how startled he was by her "sudden" appearance. The man could somehow look both intimidating and awkward to everyone, but to those in the company, especially the girls he had produced, he was a kind hearted man who saw the best of potentials in everyone. He just had trouble expressing them.
"Shimamura-san. Are you heading out?" he asked her, his hand scratching the back of his neck. A nervous tick of his.
She nodded. "Yes, I told the rest as well. I'll try to get back as soon as possible, but it will probably be late. It's a weekday after all."
"I see." He turned his gaze away for a moment, before meeting her eyes again. "Do you have all your belongings? Your phone, and wallet?"
"Mhm." She nodded in affirmative, patting her small purse. "Got them all set."
"Alright." He stood up, facing his body to hers. He placed his hands on her shoulder, and a comforting smile formed on his face. A rare smile for the serious looking man. "Be careful, Shimamura-san. And good luck."
She nodded again. "Thank you, Producer. For this."
"Wow, she's real famous!" exclaimed a star struck Kasumi as she read through the magazine that had a special spread on the idols that were apparently touring through Japan, with the odd choice of Tokyo being the last location, especially since the company was based here after all.
Walking right beside her, flanking her sides, were Rimi and Tae, with the taller girl looking over Kasumi's shoulder, reading along with Kasumi. She was nodding with the vocalist. "It's like a whole different world from us."
"Well, we often hear how it's like from Aya-senpai." Rimi added herself. "This is probably, triple that."
"Do you think we can pull off being idols?" Kasumi asked them, her finger on her chin in a thoughtful manner.
"Yes." "N-no." Tae and Rimi replied, respectively. They all glanced at one another, before devolving into light laughter.
"If we're like PasuPare, then maybe." Rimi then elaborated. "But I'm not sure about idols like them." She nodded to the magazine. "Besides, idol fans can be, scary."
"Yeah, they're like Maya-san times 100." Tae commented.
"O-Tae-chan, that's mean. Don't say that." Rimi scolded, though the effect was lessened by Kasumi's giggling.
"Do you think there's a chance we get to meet her?" Kasumi asked them.
"Saaya looked excited. Maybe she'll drop by the bakery?" Tae said.
"Maybe, but you hear how idols are always so busy." Said the bassist with a growing frown. "They have a Live to perform."
That brought the mood down between the three of them, as they continued walking down the street as Kasumi tucked the magazine back into her bag. Their silent walk continued a good distance, before the taller one of the three noticed an irregularity in their usual route.
"Rimi, where are we going?" she asked the demure girl, who had been guiding them.
She furrowed her brows at the question. "I thought we were going to get new strings together."
"Oh yeah, we did!" Kasumi turned on her step, walking backwards to face the two of them. That was one of the reasons why it was only the three of them right now, with Arisa busy with Student Council work, and Saaya helping out at her family's bakery before they would meet up later. "I forgot we planned that, hehe."
"Yeah, Saaya's sister really took over all our brains." They all shared a laugh before making their way to Edogawa Shop with more of a spring in their step.
The rest of the walk went by uneventfully, ending with the three of them eventually reaching the music shop.
"Oh, it's PoPiPa." Their entrance was signaled by the acknowledgement of the vocalist of Afterglow, a hand on her hip and still dressed in her school uniform.
"Ah, Ran-chan! And Himari-chan!" Kasumi bounded over, excitable as ever upon seeing the two members of Afterglow. "Where's Moca-chan?"
"She's turning in a coupon." Himari replied, earning a rolled eye from Ran.
"Are you buying strings too?" Tae asked as she approached them with Rimi. The members of Afterglow responded with nods.
"Does Afterglow have anything planned?" Rimi asked as the five of them browsed in tandem.
"Not really, we're just scheduling our next event. Give us a little bit of a break Rimi-chan." Himari said lightheartedly, getting chuckles from the soft spoken girl.
"How about PoPiPa? Anything else planned? I heard you guys hashed things out with the chibi." Ran spoke up, going through the selection before her.
Tae laughed nervously, which was a rarity from the guitarist of Poppin'Party. That incident was still fresh in their minds, especially hers. And though PoPiPa have moved on and grew from it, with all of them ready to bury the hatchet, there's no telling what CHU2 was going to do next. The little girl was a wildcard in some sense. They hoped that their shared experience would temper the childish emotions that would flare from her. At the very least, she was able to reunite with Rei.
"Maybe we could get lunch?" she thought aloud.
"Huh?" confusion was evident on Himari's face, while Ran's blinking conveyed said emotion for her.
Rimi's giggle was her answer to their response. "I guess we can get lunch later, O-Tae-chan. Maybe from Saaya-chan's?" she felt rapid tapping on her shoulder, turning to face the person that was calling her. "Kasumi-chan?"
"Rimirin." Kasumi was pointing somewhere outside beyond their view. She followed the vocalists' direction, and gasped. Tae followed suit, and a lighter gasp escaped her lips.
It was the person from the magazine. The famous idol. Saaya's sister. Walking around, her eyes wandering about taking in her surroundings with nostalgia. A group of girls from their school approached her asking for autographs and a selfie, which she happily obliged.
"Oh my god." Himari herself was at a loss for words when her eyes landed on what got PoPiPa's attention.
"Who is she?" Ran asked, following their gazes and coming at a loss. Fitting for someone who didn't follow the idol world, which was a descriptor that fit the rest of Poppin'Party.
"You know how crazy people can get over PasuPare, because they're idols?" Ran answered with a nod to Himari's question. "She's, a way bigger idol!" she said, pointing to said idol.
"Ok, that still didn't answer my question." Ran told the bassist.
"She's-" Tae's answer was cut off before she could say anything else by Rimi, covering the guitarist's mouth with her hand.
"It's not our story to tell, O-Tae-chan." Rimi said, getting an understanding nod from Tae.
"Should we go talk to her?" Kasumi asked the rest.
"I didn't know you girls followed the Idol industry." Himari commented, a brief hope flashing in her eyes.
"We don't." Tae said back, dousing said hope.
"Should we talk to her? I don't want to disturb her." Rimi said to the vocalist.
"She looks lost! We can help her!" the star-haired girl said, her eyes still on the idol.
Then, when the girls that approached the idol had left, their eyes met. Separated by a window, Kasumi was like a deer in headlights. Both people, frozen still. It felt like minutes had passed for her, but then, a smile. A small one, forming on the idols face. A look of recognition, before she broke the standstill and made her way towards the music shop. The moment the door opened, they welcomed a new presence.
"PoPiPa, hey!" the idol greeted them like an old friend, approaching the girls with familiarity with both her hands waving at them.
"Eh? You know us?" Kasumi couldn't help but ask, as the idol closed the distance and hugged the vocalist.
"Of course! Why wouldn't I know the band Saaya-chan's in?" she replied, moving to hug Rimi and Tae one by one. Then her eyes landed on the other two. "And you're… Afterglow!"
Himari was too star struck to respond with anything beyond incoherent babbling as the idol hugged her too, before moving to a growingly awkward Ran. "Uh, who are you?" the vocalist asked, having her earlier question still unanswered.
"Oh, my name is Shimamura Uzuki! It's a pleasure to meet you!" the idol bowed before Afterglow.
"Miitake Ran. It's a pleasure." She responded, bowing herself. She elbowed Himari, trying to bring the sense back into the bassist.
With a few blinks, the pink haired bassist finally moved, almost screaming in delight. "Uzuki-chan! I'm a big fan!" she grabbed the idol's hands with hers, shaking them excitedly. "I'm sorry for making a fool of myself!"
"Its fine, its fine." Uzuki said, waving off Himari's concerns with herself. "I'm just here to visit family."
"I didn't know you had family here. I didn't even know you were from here." Himari commented, oblivious to the snickering of PoPiPa.
Ran was not, looking back and forth between them and the idol. Then her eyes carefully scrutinized the older girl, as a pinprick at the back of her mind itched its way to the forefront. She felt like she's seen this person before, far too familiar when she's never once watched anything idol related, with the exception of PasuPare. Her thoughts immediately went back to what the idol said when she entered the shop, and her eyes widened in realization.
"No way." The words left her like the breath in her lungs, her reaction going unnoticed by Himari and Uzuki, who had turned back to face Kasumi.
"Can you guys help me out? I think I remember where Saaya-chan's bakery is, but I'd like to be sure."
"We're happy to help!" Kasumi said excitedly, Rimi and Tae nodding in agreement.
"Got everything you need, Moca?" Saaya said to her friend while she wiped her hands in the towel hanging on her apron.
"Uhm. Mmmhhmm." The white haired girl nodded with a full mouth, her arms filled with paper bags carrying the pastries she's redeemed.
"Yeah, say hi to Afterglow for me!"
"Mhm!" Moca waved back as she backed out of the bakery, giving Saaya a wink before stepping out with her loot.
There wasn't that many people left in the bakery. Someone from her school, a few from Moca's. A couple of college students. It was a slow hour. And slow hours meant that Saaya was left to her thoughts. Thoughts that, though not often, would drift to her sister. Usually there were other things in mind (especially the past couple of months, with PoPiPa's first self-sponsored live and then their marathon preparation for Budokan.), but now that her sister's live was approaching fast, with the last stop of her tour being in Tokyo, it stands to reason that she would occupy Saaya's thoughts.
Saaya grimaced bitterly, thinking of her time CHiSPA. Specifically, the dark moment in her life in the midst of it all. She pushed her friends away, not wanting to be the burden she thought she was. And, almost pushing her own sister away.
Uzuki had caught wind of her troubles by way of her own mother speaking of them to her, and just like any concerned older sister, she began asking of ways to get Saaya to open up to her. It took a while, but she eventually aired her worries to the older girl. There wasn't much anyone could do when being pushed back, but simply having someone to talk to helped ease Saaya of her woes. And then came her sister's snap decision of becoming an idol to cheer her up.
She did feel a bit guilty when Uzuki told her the news, just to make sure Saaya never stops smiling. But, it would be a lie to say that she didn't feel excited when she saw Uzuki performing, even if she could only see through the TV. So for that brief period of time, it did help, with her worries being abated. There was a couple of weeks where her sister seemed to have disappeared from the limelight, but she returned with a brighter smile to show for the world. Things settled into a comfortable rhythm, with her sister rising the ranks in the idol industry. Saaya herself didn't think that Uzuki was as popular as the other idols in the industry, but she was proven wrong when Uzuki was crowned as a Cinderella Girl. To say the house was ecstatic would be an understatement.
Her thoughts were shaken out of her when she heard the front door open. A familiar shape of ears on hair clued her in on who it was, a smile forming on her face. "Hey guys, I thought you'd be gone long…" her words died in her mouth when she saw who it was that was trailing behind them.
"Saaya-chan! I'm here!" the slightly taller form of her sister announced to the store, waving with both her hands held forward.
The already light smile on her face widened, almost jumping in her place. "Onee-chan!" she stepped out of the counter, meeting Uzuki halfway and was immediately engulfed in a tight hug.
"Aaahhh! I missed you!" Uzuki said with delight as Saaya returned the hug as best as she could.
"I missed you too, Onee-chan." Saaya said as she pulled back.
Uzuki's hands moved to Saaya's cheeks, holding her face together. "You're almost as tall as me! Soon, we'll be actual twins!"
"Ha, maybe we'll give the Hikawas a run for their money." The both of them laughed at her joke, slowly moving apart to face everyone else that had come along.
The rest of PoPiPa were watching the exchange with warm smiles on their faces, with Rimi having just taken a photo of them with her phone. There were two members of Afterglow behind them; Ran and Himari; the bassist still looked star struck, her eyes locked onto Uzuki. Ran meanwhile looked torn between smiling to the heartwarming scene they had just bore witness too, and the awkwardness of feeling like she shouldn't be there.
"Is that who I think it is out there?" another voice spoke from inside the bakery, a familiar one to the people of the neighborhood.
A bright smile formed on the sisters' faces, turning both their heads to the corridor with Saaya's mother appearing in the shopfront. "Oba-san!" Uzuki untangled herself from Saaya and made her way towards her sister's mother, hugging the older woman tightly.
"Uzuki! I didn't think you had time to drop by." Saaya's mom commented, though they could see that she was sighing, somewhat with relief.
"That would have been horrible of me to not at least say hi, especially now that I'm back." Uzuki replied as they separated from the hug. "Even after the Live, I'm still going to hang out."
"Really?" Saaya asked with a delighted smile on her face.
"Hm!" Uzuki nodded to her sister. "I haven't had an actual vacation since my early days. My Producer was more than willing to set it up for me."
"Saaya, why don't you take your sister, and your friends," Saaya's mother glanced to the five people who had escorted Uzuki, startled at being acknowledged. "to your room. I can handle the rest of the shift."
The smile on Saaya's face wavered, obviously torn. "But…"
"Don't worry, Saaya." Her mother said with a calming smile, a hand landing on her shoulder. "It's alright to be selfish, every once in a while. So go."
The smile returned with a force, her face turning to her friends. "Come, my room can fit everyone here."
At this, Himari's eyes blinked as if she had finally realized where she was. She turned to her friend, brows furrowing unsurely. "Uuuhhh…"
Ran nodded, trying to back away for the two of them. "Uh, I'm not sure that we're needed here."
"Nonsense!" Kasumi said, appearing behind them, hands on their shoulders. "This'll be fun!"
"Exactly." Uzuki agreed with a smile, clapping her hand. "Any friend of Saaya-chan is a friend of mine, and I can't wait to get to know all of you even better!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE
here's the second chapter that i wrote months ago.
i'm uploading this just so this story won't be as barebones as it appears, because again, it'll be a while until i work on it again.
thanks for your patience!
glad to see you guys read through this,
drop a review if ya'll don't mind, and i'll see you all next time!