"How has Yu been doing in her music course?"
"Huh?" The boycut-sporting blonde paused from taking a sip of her apple juice box, looking visibly confused at the random question from her totally-not-friend.
"Is she still struggling with the curriculum?"
"Ehh, she's getting by just fine I guess."
Lanzhu crossed her arms and hummed to herself. "Just fine huh…"
A swift toss, the now empty juice box traveled through the air and into the trash can several meters away. "Yeah, so? Why do you care?" Mia nonchalantly put her hands in the pockets of her letterman jacket.
"She shouldn't be doing that course if she's just going to half-ass it while participating in that club."
Mia couldn't help but grunt in mild annoyance. "You're still thinking about that? Just let her be, already. If she fails the course, then that's that. It was her decision, so she should own up to it."
"I just want her to pursue her dreams properly, but no matter how many times I tell her that, she always gives me this dumb smile and tells me how nice I am!"
"Heh, she thinks you're nice?" The third year scoffed with a cheeky grin. "No wonder you care about her so much."
Lanzhu was visibly taken aback, a first for the blonde to witness. "Wh-who said anything about me caring about her? I-"
"Yeah yeah. Don't need to prove yourself to me." Mia glanced at the taller girl for a second before quickly rolling her eyes. "Well, if that's all, bye."
"Děngdài!" Before Mia walked away and disappeared like she usually did around campus, the taller second year had one last question to ask of her business partner, who lazily turned around.
"What is it?"
"Do you have Yu's number?"
Without music, how could anyone get any work done?
That was certainly Yu Takasaki's mindset as she spent another restless, late evening cramming for both her music course exams and planning a future live performance for AZUNA. A complimentary cup of coffee freshly brewed by her childhood friend and neighbor was around to aid her study session, but of course, there was only so much a drink could do.
As if her train of thought was begging to be disrupted, the buzz and sound of a notification on her phone startled the struggling student, who nearly fell off her couch and onto the cold floor below. Slightly agitated at being interrupted from her study session, she came to her senses that, for one, she wasn't really thinking much to begin with.
Yu picked up her green and black phone while ruffling her hair. "Who could even be texting me at this time anyway… Oh? I don't recognize this number…"
Meet me tomorrow after school at the address at the bottom of this message. I want to talk. This is Lanzhu btw. Lanzhu Zhong, obviously. -_-
The black and green-haired girl took a few seconds to register what she just read. Lanzhu wants to meet her? That's kinda sudden, but given what she knows about the Hong Konger, that shouldn't surprise her. As promised, an address was posted at the bottom of the message, somewhere along the ocean if Yu's memory of Odaiba's geography was accurate.
Plopping back onto the couch, Yu stared off at the roof above, yawning. "Well, I guess meeting up with her would be a good change of pace compared to the last few days…"
Turning her phone on again and glancing at the time, the second year considered it fruitless to continue studying in the state she was in. The coffee would probably keep her awake for another hour or two, but her head was too scrambled to focus on anything important. All she could do now was drift off into unconsciousness as she let the bubbling thoughts slowly transport her to the realm of dreams, humming along to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake that played through her phone's speakers.
"Just what are you planning tomorrow, Lanzhu-chan…"
Although Lanzhu specified a location for the two of them to meet up, the second year wasn't exactly clear if she should meet up with her at school and head there together, or just head straight to the location herself.
It seemed like that minor dilemma would solve itself, as the light pink-haired girl was waiting outside the club room, leaning against the railing with her arms crossed, visibly stern, as Yu exited the door.
"Thought I'd find you here. You and that club of yours are just that inseparable, huh."
"Hi Lanzhu-chan." Yu smiled earnestly at the taller girl. "I was just telling the others I'd be hanging out with you today."
"Oh," Lanzhu properly stood up from the railing. "I guess that makes sense."
"You're right though. I'm still not going to let go of the club for the sake of my dreams if that's the reason you're wanting to meet."
"Please Yu, save your stubborn words. Soon enough, you'll eventually come to your senses and see things the way I do, but today isn't going to be that day."
"Mmm, so why did you want to meet with me today then?"
The taller girl put her arms on her hips and smiled sincerely.
"I dunno, wanted to get to know you better? The only times I ever hear about you are from Mia or when you're with the others, and I feel you probably have the wrong impression of me."
Lanzhu put an arm around Yu's shoulder and escorted her towards the elevator. "Just felt like breaking the ice between us could do us both some good, don't you think?"
"I don't mind. I'd love to get to know you better, Lanzhu. After all, you're part of the reason why I'm pushing myself as hard as I am with both my studies and the club."
The taller girl couldn't help but blush and briefly roll her eyes. "If you say so."
"Mhm!" Yu kept up the pace of her fellow second year as they reached the elevator doors. "So, where are we headed?"
With the press of a button, the doors opened almost immediately, with the Hong Konger taking the music student's hand before stepping in. Another button pressed, this time to the school's ground floor, Lanzhu gave a confident, arrogant smile as she held the shorter girl closer to her.
"You got an apartment with Ayumu, right? Well, I got an apartment of my own that I've been dying to show you."
"Ah I see… Wait, huh?"
Lanzhu didn't respond to the visible confusion of the shorter girl though, continuing to keep that smile on her face as the elevator doors closed.
"Wow, this place is practically a mansion! I can't believe something this luxurious exists only a few blocks from my apartment."
Yu was completely immersed at the beauty of what Lanzhu called her apartment, from the imported wooden dining table, the gorgeous view of Tokyo Bay, and even that thing you often see in rich people's homes. Hell, Lanzhu even had her own room with a bed, queen size of course, a far cry from the comfy sofa she got for ¥5,500 yen on craigslist placed in the corner of her living room.
The occupant of the apartment was sitting comfortably on the couch in front of her flatscreen TV, enjoying a cup of freshly brewed Pu-erh tea. "You can come drop by anytime you like. My people always make sure it's properly stocked with all my amenities: food, drinks, towels, you name it."
"Your people?" Yu directed her attention to the hostess. "Do you also have servants?"
"No, not like that…" Lanzhu coughed into her hand while slightly shuffling on the couch. "Mama just makes sure I'm well taken care of while I'm studying here."
"Oh, that's pretty nice of her! So you live by herself too?"
"I do. All the chores like cooking and cleaning are done by me too, just so you know."
"Mmm, I'm sure you're a great cook, Lanzhu-chan!"
Whether it was the first time they met during the open house, the second time at the school idol exhibit, or right at this moment with the two of them in her penthouse, the kindness that Yu showed Lanzhu was something the Hong Konger was just not used to. Not from any of her friends in Hong Kong, not from the employees of her family's business, not even from her childhood friend who scolded her more than anything else.
"Y-you think so?" The light pink-haired girl got up from the couch and stretched her arms, walking past where her guest stood and towards the kitchen. "I can start prepping some food now if you wanna stay over for dinner."
The shorter second year perked up excitedly. "Really? I'd be happy to!"
There was something nice about someone wanting to eat her cooking. Lanzhu didn't get the chance to make anything besides a pot of tea when Emma and the others from the club visited, so to make something special for Yu and show off her 'cooking skills' made the light pink-haired girl very happy.
Putting on a white apron and tying it around her waist, Lanzhu quickly gathered the necessary ingredients and utensils to make one of her favorite dishes. Meanwhile with Yu, she simply observed from a distance from the dining table as she watched the taller girl cut yellow onion with a cleaver, with the peels still on it.
The black and green-haired girl was admittedly getting a little nervous watching a variety of vegetables and fruits being cut with the wrong type of knives. "Uh, whatcha even making for us, Lanzhu?"
"One of my favorite dishes from back home. Don't you worry, I promise you'll love it!"
"Bu-"
" Makase nasai!" the now-cheerful wannabe cook interrupted, confident in her abilities. "Lanzhu has got you covered!"
"I'm glad you got some instant ramen stored in your kitchen. You can never go wrong at all with them!"
"Yeah…" Lanzhu was still embarrassed about being unable to cook what she wanted for Yu, dejectedly avoiding eye contact with the girl's cross from her. "I'm sorry about earlier. I really wanted you to try out char siu for the first time…"
"Aw, it's all good! You'll have plenty of time in the future to show me all the dishes you'd like."
"Really? Even after seeing…" the light pink-haired girl glanced towards the pile of burnt pots and pans in the kitchen sink. " that mess I made?"
Yu shrugged her shoulders with that silly smile again. "I'm in no room to judge. I'm not exactly a good cook myself, and I'll admit that Ayumu still makes a lot of my meals for me to this day."
"Mmmm, is that really something you're proud to admit?"
"Not… proud per say, just that I couldn't rate your cooking abilities even if I wanted."
"I see." Lanzhu finished the last of her instant noodles with one giant slurp. "I'm sure you could be a good cook if you asserted yourself enough."
Yu was caught off guard a little by that comment. "Huh? Where's this coming from?"
"Ayumu is still cooking for you to this day, no?"
"I mean, she doesn't cook for me all the time…"
"Maybe, but I'm sure you rely on her a lot on other things too. Cleaning for you, exchanging homework answers, waking you up in the morning."
The black and green-haired girl couldn't argue with that, with her nervous expression all but confirming everything Lanzhu was saying was at least somewhat true. The light pink-haired girl stood up from the dining table, picking up both her and her guest's empty bowl before walking to the kitchen.
"How long are you going to have Ayumu spoil you before you develop some independence of your own?"
There was no response from Yu though, who seemed to be both dazed and deep in thought from the sudden question. Lanzhu admittedly felt bad putting her on the spot like that too, she didn't invite her over just to lecture her again after all. Besides from the sounds of running water as the bowls were rinsed and the ambience of outside, the inside of the penthouse became quiet.
"...You really do worry about me alot, don't you Lanzhu-chan?" Yu finally broke the silence, deciding to slightly tease her host with a minor callback to their last interaction.
"E-ehh?!" That definitely caught the Hong Konger off guard, something this pig-tailed dork was increasingly becoming good at. "I told you before, it's not like that…"
"Haha, and I told you before, just give me a little more time." Yu said sheepishly with a smile as she rested her head along the dining table.
" Mattaku… " Lanzhu grabbed a sponge as she continued washing the dishes, muttering under her breath. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little envious of you though…"
" Ahmmm , did you say something?"
"Nothing important." Lanzhu glanced back at Yu as she put away the two bowls to dry and moved on to cleaning the decommissioned pots and pans. "Are you tired?"
Yawning once more, Yu raised her head from the table and rested herself on her arms. "Yeah probably. It was quite a busy today at school after all."
"Mia tells me you don't seem to get much sleep. Is that true?"
"She's telling you that huh? Well, yeah… it's been a while since I got a full 8 hours of sleep."
Lanzhu sighed as she stopped the fruitless effort of cleaning the burnt kitchenware, deciding to throw it all out later when she had the chance.
"Please don't worry about me though Lanz-"
"You're spending the night here, Yu." Before the black and green-haired girl could process those words, she opened her eyes to see Lanzhu's serious face only inches away from hers.
"What-" Yu almost fell back in her chair from the sudden closeness mixed with the surprising proclamation, and she probably would've fallen backwards on the floor had Lanzhu not yanked her up to her feet.
"There's no school tomorrow, it's already late, you're clearly exhausted, and you live by yourself," Lanzhu used quotation marks with her hands with that last statement. "I don't see why you shouldn't stay the night with me, so it's already been decided."
There was really no point in arguing with her about this, so Yu softly sighed, or yawned, probably both, as she sat back down in the chair, rested her head on her arms again, and smiled. "Whatever you say, Lanzhu-chan."
"Mmmph. You're not sleeping on my dining table though. Give me a few minutes to grab you a futon and pajamas."
Yu hid a slight grin under her arms. "Spoiling me too?"
Lanzhu was very tempted to flick the sleepy girl on the forehead, but came to the conclusion that would be pretty mean. Capitulating that this dork was always gonna tease her, the Hong Konger sighed and settled for gently ruffling Yu's hair, a small but sincere smile coming across her face.
"Don't get used to it."
Getting the futon out for Yu was, as Lanzhu realized, pretty pointless in the end. Of course a girl who slept on a couch every night would want to crash on a premium, luxurious mattress like her own. Plus, even if she didn't want the black and green-haired girl on her bed, there was nothing she could do about it now, as Yu made herself very snuggly under the plush sheets and blankets.
The light pink-haired girl looked on defeatedly at the girl who occupied a third of her bed, deciding not to overthink about the matter a second longer as she herself was tired. It's a big enough bed, so there shouldn't be a problem as long as she keeps to her side.
Lifting the covers up, the Hong Konger shuffled her way into the corner of the bed left free before placing the blanket on top of her and clapping her hands twice for the lights in the room to dim. Looking over her shoulder one last time, only to find a girl fast asleep with her back facing towards her, Lanzhu plopped her head against a pillow and slowly closed her eyes.
"Goodnight Yu."
…
The sounds of shuffling on the bed led to Lanzhu lazily opening her eyes once more.
…
"... Still awake..?"
…
Sigh. "Guess not…" Lanzhu turned around slowly to the other side of the bed only to find the sleepy face of her guest, her breath slow but peaceful. Even with the dimness of the light within the room, the light pink-haired girl could recognize how cute the sleeping girl looked.
"I wish you wore your hair down more often, it suits you much better..."
…
"You really are asleep, huh?" Lanzhu once more shifted her position in bed, this time deciding to rest properly on her back and look up at the decorative roof above the two of them.
"Coming all this way to Tokyo, I didn't think someone like you would be the one deep behind my reasoning to become an idol… The festival, the members, everything, it was all you… At the sacrifice of your own dreams… Why?"
The light pink-haired girl continued to zone off, outwardly monologuing and asking questions to a girl who wasn't even awake.
"Putting the dreams of others before your own… Foolish? Selfless? Naive? I don't know what to make of you at all, Yu…"
…
"Humble I guess, huh? Wanting to be a supporting character that has everyone's back instead of standing in the spotlight? … I don't get that at all, but I guess that's what makes the two of us different."
…
"I don't want to be anyone's supporting character, and I don't need anyone to support me. I wanna shine on stage by myself, with my own merits. A world class idol that everyone will know by heart."
…
"I just wanna start a cafe."
The light pink-haired girl was jolted out of her dream-like state from the sound of a voice that wasn't her own, shifting her body to the right to find a pair of emerald green eyes looking right at her.
"Y-you were… ugh, I won't even bother… How much of that did you hear?"
"Mmm, not much at all."
Even if she said that sleepily, the Hong Konger knew that the shorter girl knew and heard more than what she let on.
"A world class idol… Yeah, you're definitely bound to be that, Lanzhu-chan. You're talented, you dress spectacularly, you have a great singing voice, you're very attractive. Oh, and you're a really nice person."
A really nice person. Is that really how Yu saw her? Lanzhu initially thought Yu was just being nice herself when saying those things to her, but after today, it's pretty obvious that she's not just saying it. She sincerely means it.
"...What makes me a nice person to you?"
"...I dunno how to express it, but there's a reason you let me spend the night here, isn't there? The same reason you made a meal for me, invited me to your home, confronted me about my dreams… Those gestures alone tell me you're deep down a nice person, Lanzhu-chan."
The light pink-haired girl once more laid properly on her back, resting her eyes. "If you're so insistent on that belief, then so be it."
"Mmm."
…
"Yu?"
"What's up?"
"Did I hear you correctly when you said you wanted to start a cafe?"
"Indeed you did. Is something the matter?"
"...No, actually. I think that's sweet..."
"Thanks."
"Why though? Something not related to either the club or your music studies?"
"Heh, who said it wasn't related."
"Oh..? So it's all related..."
"It is. I don't just wanna start a cafe for the heck of it, but because I want to create a space for people of all backgrounds to come together and make something special."
"Mmm, yeah?"
"I imagine having this whole set up in the cafe just for musicians. There'll be a piano, a few guitars, and microphones open, and people can do their own performances."
…
"Everyone from the club would perform their own songs, although it won't be with as much fanfare compared to the festival of course. Mia-chan could also visit to perform her music, that would be amazing."
…
"And of course I'd love for you to one day perform there. Your dream and mine, creating an unforgettable moment for everyone. Doesn't that sound nice, Lanzhu-chan?"
…
"Lanz-oh… Haha, my bad…"
Yu looked cheekily at the sleeping idol before shuffling closer to her, putting one arm around her before fully committing to cuddling up with Lanzhu.
"Thanks for today… and for everything, Ms. World Class Idol..."
…
" ...No, …thank you… "
Sleep talking? Seemed like it, but the shorter girl couldn't help but feel a liquid around her forehead that seemed to originate from Lanzhu's eyes. Aw, poor girl. That only made Yu tighten her hug, wanting to make sure her friend felt safe and protected during her slumber.
"I'll always be here to support you, whether you like it or not…" With one last yamn, Yu properly closed her eyes and joined the same realm as Lanzhu, the two of them awaiting what the next episode of their stories had in store.
"Oyasumi."