Thicker than Blood
"Here you go, girls. These were just freshly baked a few minutes ago." Saaya said, as she reentered the room carrying a tray of pastries and drinks.
"Yaaayyy!" the three PoPiPa members and Uzuki clapped their hands in delight. The two members of Afterglow were clapping slowly, still feeling completely out of place. Himari's face was especially red, considering that it was her fault that the both of them were here.
"Ran, Himari. Here you go." Saaya placed the two glasses of cold water on their side of the table, along with two small plates of breads and pastries.
"Thank you." The both of them replied, somewhat muted but the pause in conversation meant that their words were heard.
"When did Moca leave?" Ran asked suddenly, trying to make things less awkward for her. "I knew she was here before."
"Not long before you guys arrived, actually." Saaya replied with a smile. "She made sure her arms were full before leaving."
Himari chuckled as she took one of the offered pieces of bread. "Sounds like her."
"How long will you be staying, Onee-chan?" Saaya asked the older girl with a hopeful look in her eyes.
"Hmm, the Live's still in four days." Uzuki replied, taking a sip of the glass of water. "But after that, I'll be free for a month, at least."
"A month?" Kasumi asked in surprise. "Your vacation's that long?"
The Idol smiled back at them. "Technically, we'd still be working for another two weeks, but after that is when our break really starts."
"And the rest of your friends?" Rimi asked with curiosity.
"NewGen will also be spending their time here. The others, I'm not sure yet, but I think they'll also join us." She answered with her dazzling smile.
"Oh, lucky." Tae commented, nodding along.
"Wait, if the Live is in four days, shouldn't you be busy with practice and rehearsals?" Himari asked, leaning forward attentively, her earlier awkwardness seemingly gone for the moment.
"Sure, but my Producer allowed me to meet up with Saaya-chan while we're all getting ready." She answered. "We just got here, after all."
"So you won't be dropping by often until the Live?" Saaya asked, her smile waning slightly as Uzuki shook her head in reply.
"No, but I will try and come by once in a while before it all starts." The older girl sighed, her shoulders sagging behind her. "It's been forever since I was visited, so I'm going to milk it every chance I get."
"How long has it been?" Ran found herself asking.
Both sister looked to each other in thought. "I think it was when I was still in middle school." Saaya answered.
"Yeah, and we came by to cheer you up, especially when Oba-san got sick." Uzuki added with a nod, a light smile on her face as she reached for Saaya's hand. "I'm happy that you're doing better, Saaya-chan."
"I have wonderful people around me, Nee-chan." Saaya replied, a ghost of a tear forming on her eye.
"After that, I just got really busy." Uzuki further elaborated. "With school, and then idol work."
"Ooohhh." Himari was listening with rapt attention.
"I can't imagine not seeing my sister for so long." Rimi commented, nibbling on a cornet as she shifted her gaze from them.
"It sucks, but it makes the moments where we do become much more impactful." Uzuki said, turning to the bassist, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You will cherish those moments, Rimi-chan."
"Uhn." She nodded, eyes closed as she took the words to heart.
"So, what have you girls been up to?" Uzuki asked them, not just PoPiPa, Ran noticed, from the way her eyes shifted towards them.
"We were able to perform at the Budokan." Tae answered before any of them could.
"Eeehhhh?!" Uzuki immediately snapped towards Tae. "Really?!" she turned back to Saaya, eyes wide in surprise. "And I missed it?!"
"You were busy with your own things, Onee-chan. I didn't want to disturb you when you had your own tour." Saaya said, patting Uzuki's hand.
"I mean, sure, I was busy, but it would have been so cool to know!" the older sister's hands held onto the younger sister's. "Oh, I'm so proud of you girls! That is so cool!"
Kasumi, Rimi, and Saaya preened at the compliment, and even Tae nodded with a smile. She then turned her eyes towards them. "How about Afterglow? What did you girls do recently?" she asked them.
"We initially wanted to try and perform at the Budokan as well, but we had other things already planned." She answered, with Himari nodding beside her. Ran coughed into her fist, turning a question back at the Idol. "Where did your tour take you?"
"Oh, we went through 34 cities, and 45 venues." She sighed, but smiled proudly. "It's the hardest job I've done so far, but it's worth it."
Ran's eyes widened, involuntarily whistling at the sheer magnitude of it. She might not be a fan of idol music, but she's heard the kind of numbers that PasuPare could pull. Judging by everything she's hearing, Saaya's sister puts even those girls to shame. And that was saying something. She glanced to her side, seeing Himari lose herself, eyes wide open completely awestruck.
"I can also give you girls passes for the Live if you want to watch as well." She added with a smile, and of course Himari gasped.
"How many can you give out?" Saaya asked.
"I've already set aside a couple for you and everyone, even Otou-sama, and also for PoPiPa and a few of your friends." Ran blinked at the quick change of tone, almost wondering if she even heard it at all. "I can get more if you girls want."
"Ow." Ran winced, as Himari kept on slapping her thigh. "I'm sure Himari here would love one."
"And we can ask around to see if any of the other girls would want to watch!" Kasumi added with a bright smile.
"Great!" Uzuki clapped delightedly. "My Producer's going to come here to pick me up. He'll have the passes with him, so I can give it to you girls."
"Sana and Jun are still too young though, so they won't be able to come. Especially to such a big event." Saaya said, reminding Uzuki of the fact.
"Oh, that's true." She frowned for a second, before smiling back again. "If they can't go, then that's more passes for your friends then."
"Ran, you have to come along!" Himari said, now gripping her thigh. "It's going to be so awesome!"
"Alright! Just let go of me!" Ran said, trying to get Himari's surprising grip off of her. "I'll be there with you, just chill."
Uzuki giggle at the scene they were making. "It's so nice to see friendship like this."
"Afterglow are childhood friends after all." Rimi said with a smile.
The group laughed together, and even Ran couldn't help but laugh along, despite the fact that she was suffering the most thanks to her friend's intense reaction.
And she thought Himari was the trendy one.
He looked down at his watch, standing still as he waited for the light. He pulled out his phone, his itinerary popping up, reminding him of his schedule. His other hand tightened around the brown bag he brought. He sighed, pocketing his phone back inside the inner pocket of his jacket, before his hand reached for the back of his neck nervously.
The light flashed green.
Without another word, he took his step to cross the road, along with the other people around him. He was getting close to the bakery, if he read the address correctly. A small market neighborhood, that gave off a homely vibe. Something far more welcoming than the greater intimidating Tokyo as a whole. He made a right turn, entering said neighborhood that seemed to be somewhat active and bustling on this weekday.
He nodded back to a few of the vendors he walked passed as they smiled at him invitingly, though that didn't stop a few of the students shy away from him, some even looking at him with fear. He held back a sigh, his hand once again reaching for the back of his neck. Trying to placate them would only make him even more suspicious, as his past experience told him. He would have to just ignore it and move on. The bakery was getting close.
He stopped and blinked his eyes when he turned around a corner. He took his phone back at, searching for the address that Uzuki had given him, just to double check. He looked back up at the bakery down the street, and nodded. His feet was already moving as he pocketed his phone back, eager to reach his destination. The day was reaching its end, and he needed to bring Uzuki back to the hotel. He sighed audibly, thankful that the others didn't come along with him. At the very least, they understood how much this meant to Uzuki, and were giving her this time.
He looked up, reading the sign that read 'Yamabuki Bakery' above the entrance. He nodded again, before reaching for the door handle, and opened it. The bell rang, signaling his entrance. A few people glanced his way, but the others ignored him. Those that didn't seemed to double take at his appearance. He paid them no mind, as he made his way towards the cashier, a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair and blue eyes.
She held a professional smile as he approached, and seemed to not take issue with his intimidating appearance. "Yes, customer, how may I help you?"
"Excuse me." He pulled out his business card, handing it to her. "I am a Producer from Mishiro Productions, and I am here to pick up Shimamura-san."
Her professional smile perked up as she took the business card. "Ah! You're Uzuki's Producer! I am Saaya's mother. It's already this late? Time sure flies." She said with a genuine smile. He could hear a few murmurings around them.
"Yes, I apologize for my sudden intrusion. I would like to give her more time, but we are running on a tight schedule." He told her, the apparent matriarch of the Yamabukis.
"Yes, I understand." She said with a smile. "I wasn't even expecting her to visit us so early, with how busy she was."
"She makes it a point to make exceptions for family." He said, not even realizing that he showed a rare smile of his own. "It would be remiss of me to not grant her this, especially for all that she has done for us."
"She sounds like a hardworking idol." She said with a proud smile.
He nodded in agreeance. "She is our most hardworking idol."
"I will call her over, so she won't be any more late."
"Thank you." He nodded his appreciation as the matriarch left the cashier. He stepped aside, just in case someone else needed it.
He didn't need to wait long, hearing commotion coming from deeper inside the bakery. Soon enough, she reappeared again, with Uzuki and her sister (along with presumably her friends). A rose haired girl, who seemed to be animatedly talking to Uzuki, glanced his way for a second. He sighed dejectedly when she yelped.
"Himari!" the girl with the red-striped hair admonished the former.
"Its fine, he gets that a lot." Uzuki said as she approached him. "Producer! You really need to work on your smile!"
"I don't think there's much I can do about that." He replied, his free hand scratching the back of his neck. Again.
"I'm sure you'll get there! Mio-chan certainly believes so." upon reaching distance from him, she looked down to the brown bag he had been carrying. "Did you bring them?"
"Of course." He brought the brown bag up, his hand reaching in to pull out the passes that she had requested. "Twenty passes for the Live, as you asked for."
"Thank you!" she took the passes and turned around, handing them all to her sister. "Here you go!"
"This really is a lot!" her sister, Saaya, said with wide eyes.
Uzuki giggled. "Of course! I didn't know how many friends you wanted to bring, and these are also in case Oba-san and the rest can drop by as well."
"We'll see if we can make it, Uzuki." Saaya's mother said with a smile.
"I also brought this." He said, placing the brown bag on the cashier's counter. "It might not amount to much, for a bakery, but…"
"Producer, did you use company money for this?" Uzuki asked as Saaya pulled out the cake from the bag.
He shook his head. "Of course not, I used my own."
"You didn't have to do that!"
"Its common courtesy, Shimamura-san." He replied, nodding to the Yamabukis.
"Thank you very much, Producer." Saaya's mother bowed in appreciation, and he too bowed in turn. "It's nice to know that Uzuki is in good hands."
"He's the best." Uzuki said with a wide smile, moving to his side and wrapping her arm around his. He held back a sigh.
"Shimamura-san. Please. This is inappropriate." He said, hoping that nothing would come of this.
"Fine." Thankfully, she relented, letting his arm go. "Well, it was great to drop by, but the Producer's right. I'll try and drop by for a few seconds, at least to say hi to the little ones! I bet they're so big now!"
"What hotel are you staying at?" the girl with the double-pointed hairstyle asked suddenly. If he remembered right, she was the vocalist of the band Uzuki's sister was a member of.
Uzuki furrowed her brows. "Why?"
"So we can visit instead!" she said confidently. "That way, you won't have to take time off of your schedules to see Saaya!"
Uzuki then turned to him, and he could see the hopeful look in her eyes. He sighed, pulling out his phone again to check the upcoming days' schedules. "You can text your sister, Shimamura-san." He looked around the bakery, noticing that the people around them were paying rapt attention.
"Cool!" she turned back one last time to her family. She hugged both her sister, and her sister's mother tight. The three other girls around them joined the hug, leaving the two last ones behind. "We'll see each other again soon, I promise!"
Once again, seeing the scene before him, he didn't realize the genuine smile that formed on his face.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
it's been a while, guys.
don't worry, the backlog's still being built up, though once again don't expect chapters to come out periodically.
see you guys next time!