Chapter 24 – Citations & Citrus
Ritsu's POV
"No way!"
"Yui-san is Lyrica?!"
"That is so freaking cool!"
"*sigh* Never did I believe that my secret would be revealed to this many people…" Yui-san said with a little shame. We had returned to the hotel room and brought the Takaoka girls with us. And we had just told the others that Yui-san was the famous J-Pop idol Lyrica.
Nearly everyone had lost their minds.
"Wowie…I always wanted to meet a real-life idol. But I never thought I knew one this whole time!"
"I know, right? I still can't believe how lucky we are!" Jun said to Yui.
"You may be lucky. But I sure ain't." Yui-san said to herself.
"So, this friend of yours is…an idol famous in this country?" Miharu asked.
"Lyrica is a J-Pop idol who quickly rose to fame in the 2 years she's been around." I explained. "Most, if not all of her songs reach the top of the charts just days after releasing."
"And her first album just sold out, too." Yui added. "It was the first time I woke up early for something."
"THAT was the first time?" Mio and Nodoka both gained a sweatdrop.
"Did you know any of this?" Miharu asked Mugi.
"I'm not into Pop music. So, I didn't know either."
"Huh."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing much. I just…I just find this hard to believe."
"Hard to believe as in excited?"
"No, as in I don't believe this is true."
"What?!" Most of us yelled in shock.
"I must agree with Miharu-ojōsama." Sumire said. "I cannot believe this is true."
"Yeah…me neither."
"You too, Hime-chan?" Yui asked.
"Sorry, Hirasawa-san. But I just don't believe it. She could just be a cosplayer or something."
"C-Cosplay?" Yui-san asked in shock.
"Hold on." Kyouko said. "I've known Yui since we were kids. There's no way she would do anything like cosplaying just for fun."
"It's true." Sachiko added. "Yui may look like a boy at times. But she would never do something so pathetic as trying to look girly for no apparent reason."
*STOMP*
"Gah. My foot…" She then wined while holding her foot in pain after Yui-san had stomped it hard for that remark.
She must've replaced Kyouko as the person to insult her a lot. Makes sense, considering what Kyouko went through about a year ago.
"Well, Yui-san." Nodoka said. "Maybe if you prove that you really are Lyrica, you might change their minds."
"Prove that I'm Lyrica? How am I supposed to do that?"
"What else?" Chinatsu said to her. "Just sing them a song or something."
"Wh-What?! You want me to sing?! Here?! No way! People nearby will definitely hear me!"
"Not if you sing quietly enough." Jun said. "Come on, Yui-san. I never get to see you perform live in-person and this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me."
"Yeah! I agree with Jun-chan! Please do it, Yui-san! Please?" Yui begged.
"B-But…"
"You might as well, Yui." Akari said. "Otherwise, these girls will never believe you."
…
…
…
"*sigh* Fine. Maybe like a verse or two."
"ALRIGHT!"
"Hey, keep it down." Mio said to the two fangirls.
Yui-san took a deep breath as she prepared to sing one of her Lyrica songs. I'm not as big of a fan as Yui and Jun are. But I am familiar with most of her songs.
"I wish ugokidasu yuuki wa
Go fight darenimo tomerarenai
I don't forget yuruganai negai
Promise to you inori wa hitotsu ni
Kibou dake atsumete tsuyousa ni kaeta basho
Megami-sama ni nareru kiga shita"
W-Well, okay. Maybe not THAT one.
"Well…the voice seems to be identical." Sumire said.
"M-Maybe she is the real deal, Sumire-san." Mikuru said.
"I guess…"
"N-No way. Th-That song…" Miharu mumbled to herself. "H-Hey, uh…Yui, was it? Did you really write that song?"
"Well, no. It's actually a remaster of an old song a past singer did. I think it's called…Go Love & Peace or something like that. Why, you've heard of it?"
"Uh…"
"Miharu-senpai. Isn't that song…" Azusa asked.
"Yeah…that's the song that my mom used to sing to me."
"Huh? Your mom?" I asked.
Miharu didn't answer and her mood got sadder. I even thought I saw a couple of tears forming in her eyes.
Miharu…?
"U-Uh, hey! Miharu!" Mugi suddenly yelled out. "I remember seeing this nice store on the way here! Let's go check it out! Like, right now!" She then grabbed Miharu's arm and both started heading for the door.
"I-I'll come with you, Senpai!" Azusa yelled. "L-Like right now!"
"H-Hey! Wh-What about my question?!" I asked.
"S-Sorry, everyone! Th-That store's gonna close soon! Gotta go now or never!" Mugi said.
"I'll talk to you later okay, Akari?" Azusa added.
"Uh…okay. Later…Azusa."
We were all left in that room with huge looks of confusion as we each tried to figure out what the hell just happened.
"Uh…hey." Yui said after a moment of silence. "Miharu-chan looked kinda sad earlier. Is she okay?"
"I hope so, Yui." I said.
But something is telling me that she isn't…
Mugi's POV
The two of us managed to get away from the others and got Miharu to feel somewhat better about what had happened. There was no store, in case you couldn't tell. So, we just went to a nearby café and got something to eat.
It lightened the mood a little. But…
"*sigh* Man, I can't believe I nearly cried in front of them. My emotions keep screwing with me."
"It couldn't be helped, Senpai." Azusa-chan said. "Yui-san suddenly singing that song was unpredicted own its own right."
"*sigh* Yeah…" Miharu then took a sip of the frappé she ordered.
"So, she told you too?" I asked.
"Yeah. She did. During the welcome party before her father called. She really did care for her mother."
"Yeah…no doubt about that."
The conversation didn't go anywhere for a few minutes. During that time, we just took sips of the drinks we order. Miharu had a chocolate frappé. Azusa-chan just had a bottle of water. And then I had this weird-looking drink called a Blimey Limey Smoothie. The name itself made me believe that this is a weird as hell smoothie. But "weird as hell" wasn't something I normally encountered when it came to food and drinks (thanks to my parents). So, I decided to take the chance.
Thing is…
"Ugh. This drink's way too sour. There goes 600 yen down the drain."
"I told you not to get it, Mugi." Miharu said to me. "With the amount of limes they mix in with orange juice, of course it would be sour."
"I was just curious. I never got to taste these smoothies whenever I came down here with my parents. The fact that I'm here without them…I kinda took the chance."
"*sigh* Understandable. Considering where you came from."
…
…
…
"S-So…do you want it?" I asked.
"Mugi, that drink's sour as hell. Why would I drink it?"
"Well, I don't want it. Primarily for that same reason."
"Mugi…" Miharu gained a sweatdrop.
"Don't you want it, Azusa-chan?"
"U-Uh…no. I-I'm good, Mugi-senpai."
"What? You don't like sour things, either?"
"W-Well, not exactly." Azusa-chan then went silent for a bit. "Y-You see, just recently I found out that I'm allergic to citrus."
"Allergic…to citrus?" The two of us asked in complete confusion.
"It was two weeks ago when I had to go to the doctor. I had eaten this cake that my mom had brought home from work and I started feeling weird immediately after taking one bite of it. We thought it was some kind of stomach virus at first. But then the test results came back and it read that I had grown a specific chromosome that made me have this really weird reaction to citrus fruits."
"A chromosome?"
"Apparently, whenever I eat a citrus…like an orange or a lime of some sort…I get this swirly orange rash all over my body, my eyes would change color from brown to orange while my pupils would dilate greatly, and then I start drooling pink saliva."
"Well, damn. All of that from a single citrus fruit?" Miharu asked.
"Well, there's that. And then there's the fact that I end up acting so derpy like I've smoked a ton of marijuana or something. It's such a weird reaction."
""Weird" is an understatement…" Miharu and I both gained a sweatdrop.
"So, yeah. I can't drink your smoothie, Mugi-senpai. Sorry."
"*sigh* It's fine, Azusa-chan. I'll just go throw it away. Man. When you're on limited money, it hurts like hell when you waste something."
"That's the life of a regular girl, Mugi-senpai."
"Glad to see that you're seeing the regular life in our eyes." Miharu added.
"Did you really had to bring that up?" I asked with an exasperated tone before I got up to throw this smoothie in the trash.
Well, that conversation was…interesting. Never would've thought that Azusa-chan would have such an insane allergy. Let alone it being caused by something as harmless as an orange.
But that did distract us from what we originally came here to talk about. Miharu's mom…even after all these months of being in Japan, she's still hurting from her death.
I want to help her…no…as her older half-sister…b-by a day, it's my duty to help her. But…I have no idea how. Even though I'm estranged from my own parents at the moment, they're still alive. I've never dealt with the loss of a family member before. Where do I even begin with such a top...
*BAM*
"Ouch…Ah, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Are you hurt?"
"No, no. I'm fine. Not a scratch on me." Said the man with brown hair as he turned to face me. That was when I froze up completely as I stared at this man. Because no doubt I had seen him before. And there was no denying it that it was the same guy.
"W-Wait, aren't you…Miharu's…"
"Hey, Mugi. What's the hold-up?" I heard Miharu's voice call out to me. Soon, she and Azusa-chan came inside the café to meet with me. And they both caught sight of the man in front of me.
"N-No way." Azusa-chan said."I-Isn't this…"
"P-Papa?!"
"Miharu?"
"Holy crap! We ran into Miharu-senpai's dad!"
"Just our freaking luck, Azusa-chan…" I said with a huge exasperated sweatdrop.
Author's Note: From remembering the loss of one parent to the sudden appearance of another. Miharu's got some serious parental issues going on here, huh?
Fun fact: Azusa being allergic to citrus fruits is a direct reference to my Yuru Yuri story Raspberry. In which Akari is allergic to raspberries. I could write a story like that in the future if you guys are interested. Just saying.
Thanks for reading. Later.
