IV
Yukina got up very early this morning, to make sure she wouldn't be late. Of course she wanted to make a good impression on her first day of a new part-time job, even though it was difficult for her to predict exactly what kinds of difficulties she could run into. The fact that she has never done anything like that troubled her, because it was not possible to prepare as thoroughly as she wanted.
The least she could do was to make sure she slept well and then arrive on time. Lisa already gave her a hint about which trains to board to arrive the quickest — her best friend even got over different routes if something unexpected happened on her way to the café. Yukina felt fawned over a bit much, but also knew that the job was something she agreed to on her own.
It was just the morning shift and while it could also get crowded; it wasn't supposed to get as nasty as in the afternoon. The owner didn't want to throw her into deep waters on the very first day, especially considering lack of experience. She finished getting ready and once again checked she had the basic menu memorized.
The sound of locking the apartment door marked her leave. The sun was up for a few hours by now and it was starting to get hotter, although the breeze still made it quite comfortable. The rays sunk into her ink-black hair with strands of silver, as she made her way through the busy Tokyo streets.
Lisa usually took the afternoon shifts due to her skill, so this meant that they are not going to work together for the moment. Yukina was a bit disappointed about this, as she was doing it to get some burden off of her friend's shoulders, after all. She heard her phone buzzing while she was getting closer to the station.
The text from Lisa asked if she's on the way and reassured her about upcoming work. Light smile appeared on her face and she started replying, but then, suddenly, she hit a boy passing by and dropped the phone. She managed to somehow catch it flying before it hit the ground. Surprised, she looked at the boy who bumped into her.
Probably a high schooler, he was dressed rather officially, so Yukina assumed he was rushing to get to work on time — not unlike her, although she mostly wanted to arrive ahead of time and avoid congestion on trains. Yukina also caught a glimpse of a magazine lying on the ground, which the boy must've dropped.
"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you okay?" He quickly blurted out.
"Yes, I'm fine. I should apologize too, I wasn't paying attention either." She admitted, knowing that looking at the phone might've caused the situation.
A second later, after a short "Ah, alright. That's good," he was off.
An image of a cover flashed in Yukina's mind, and a memory of a photo-shoot along with it. She wasn't wondering whether they could appear in an even bigger magazine in the future, she simply wasn't sure what to do in order to achieve that. She didn't like the current state of affairs, this much was clear.
That day wasn't the day to invent a strategy, however. She got on the train as planned and was on her way to the café. It was located a bit off the beaten track and thus usually didn't experience intense crowds in the mornings. It shouldn't be too difficult to find, though. After about ten minutes, it was time to get off and walk the rest of the distance.
Yukina checked her notes again and, in fact, found the place without much trouble. The signboard above read "Harada's coffee and pastries". The moment she went in, an intense, but pleasant scent of the namesake attraction, mixed with the faint aroma of various sweets and cakes hit her nostrils. Also, a girl came running towards her.
"Yukina, you're here even earlier than I thought you would!"
"Lisa, how come you are on a morning shift? Weren't you supposed to only arrive in the afternoon?" She wondered how her genuinely baffled expression must've looked from the outside.
"Well, I was, but I switched with the girl coming in the morning and here I am! Darn, I really have got to thank her, especially since we have one person less." Lisa looked like a person experiencing a mixture of all kinds of feelings.
"I appreciate that you came, but I think that it's rather backwards now," Yukina remarked, slightly disappointed. "The point was for me to help you, remember?" Her tone turned harsher, but she thought it was for the best to just say it.
"I know, but you probably won't get the chance to work on an afternoon shift for the first week or two anyway, so why not?" Lisa explained.
"Don't be mad. Come on, I'll tell you how we're going to be dividing orders," she continued happily and started to eagerly wave towards Yukina.
"I'm not angry, I just… think that you're doing way too much for me." Vocalist ended up sounding a tiny bit embarrassed.
The first day of work at the café started definitely not the way she imagined. It wasn't a bad start, though. Yukina made sure to listen to whatever her best friend had to say about serving, getting orders and greeting customers. As anticipated, the morning was calm, with some regulars coming, who inevitably noticed a new face and wanted to chit-chat a bit.
Lisa was usually cutting in the moment after vocalist had given a dry response with an emotionless face. It turned out dealing with customers wasn't her forte, but she at least had the menu memorized, and could fairly confidently serve the basics.
They did have some time for chatter, but she wanted to get as much advice from Lisa as she could to become better at this quickly, so the two didn't talk about casual things. Her friend answered every question and doubt Yukina had — at least those she knew how to, but seemed a little off somehow.
She suspected that Lisa simply wanted to use the idle time, when they didn't have much to do, to talk to her about something unrelated to work. It was just the first day, so things are going to stabilize later surely. There was, however, one thing that was bugging her from the start, and just when she appeared to have gotten over it, Lisa brought it up during one of their breaks.
"Since you were so serious, I tried to not get too hyper about it, but I have to say it now. Yukina, you look fantastic in our uniform. I thought you would, and I was totally right!" She said in a teasing tone.
"This is just a normal restaurant uniform, I don't know why you are so excited. It's only slightly more polished, probably." The compliment didn't catch Yukina off guard.
"Come on! I think it's a nice outfit, and you were lucky that we have one that doesn't look totally mundane or, the other way around, daring." Gyaru's excitement was apparent.
"Even if you say that… I think you'll be better off focusing your attention elsewhere." Her tone turned more serious as she didn't find a more fitting reply.
"Aww… I think you will get more into the spirit of things as you spend your time here…" It seemed like she had more to say, but stopped in the middle.
"You might be on point. Let's get back, though, there's a customer coming in," Yukina noticed and used that as an excuse to cut the talk.
It wasn't her intention to be cold to Lisa. She wanted to focus on the job for the remaining hour or so. Otherwise, she could've blurted out something too harsh, as was all too often the case in the past. Roselia's bassist would've surely understood and wouldn't have thought much of it, as she knew Yukina the best. Still, she'd rather see Lisa energetic and positive, not worrying about her or the band.
As the morning shift was nearing its end, there were more people coming in, but thanks to her friend's experience, they handled it decently enough. It was a completely new experience to Yukina, but she found the chance to learn from Lisa rewarding. Soon enough the first day at a new work came to an end and they headed to the changing room for the staff.
The two also bumped into Naru, a tall, slender girl whom Lisa switched with and both sincerely thanked her for the favor. While Yukina was putting normal clothes back on again, she felt a gaze on her back. She turned her head just enough to see Lisa taking a peek. It was getting a bit awkward, so she speeded up, put on her skirt and quickly put the uniform back in her locker.
Yukina then left the changing room, concentrating hard on not giving away the embarrassment. It was pleasantly warm outside, nothing like the scorching heat that usually plagues Tokyo around August. Singer stood there, wondering about what she just did.
She simply said, "I'm going on ahead," and then rushed outside. Lisa could've been thinking that she left and is going back home. A few moments later her suspicions were confirmed.
"Yukina!" she called out to her. "You fled out of there so quickly that I didn't even know if you were still here." It probably wasn't meant as a tease, Lisa seemed puzzled.
"I just… thought I want to get out and get some fresh air, that's all." It wasn't a lie, technically.
"Really? You sure looked a tad uneasy," her friend said with a smirk. "Hey, it's not that late in the day yet, so what would you say about going to the shopping district for a bit to check out a place or two?" Lisa's offer sounded very fluent, even too fluent.
"I just wanted to walk straight to the station, to be honest," replied frankly.
"Hah… I know you're tired after your first day, I also was! But I have something I wanted to check out quite badly, it can just be one place and I'll keep it short, I promise." Gyaru made a face that almost begged for approval.
"You're being unusually pushy today, so I guess if I declined, you would just continue trying to convince me, so alright, I'll go with you." She paused, and Lisa beamed in an instant.
"If you continue to wander around the shops endlessly though, I'm just going back to my apartment." Her friend's expression didn't change in the slightest.
Yukina walked steadily and Lisa was grinning beside her, also because of the subject they were talking about, which was cafés, but not ordinary ones. Roselia's bassist brought up cat cafés, where you can find cats lazing around freely and sometimes even have fun with them while you're waiting for your order.
It was vocalist's weak spot and Yukina just could not hide how excited she was about the possibility of going to such a place, much to Lisa's delight. She visited one before, so she knew how it's like. They were slowly getting closer to the shopping district, and she would've normally just around then started questioning her decision to go willingly to a place like Omotesando, but not that time.
Maybe it was simply getting used to following Lisa on such trips, she wasn't quite sure. When the two finally arrived at their destination, Yukina considered the complex a bit bloated. She also grew concerned about her friend's self-control, seeing how many temptations waited inside. The entrance was fairly crowded, but it was still within reason.
Lisa was quick to find the shop she was talking about, and then it also seemed like she knew the lady working there. It shouldn't be strange for the vocalist at this point, but Yukina was always amazed at times like this. It was just the start, though. After some gossiping with the clerk, Lisa showed her a creamy one-piece with moderate cleavage and it wasn't for herself.
"You don't want me to try this on, do you?" She already knew the answer.
"Yukina, you can't just wear darkish tones all summer!" Gyaru was in her element.
"You have got to refresh your look a bit. You surely will appreciate it when it gets blazingly hot, this dress will not melt you, like dark ones." Roselia's vocalist did acknowledge the point.
"I agree, but I don't feel like trying these… Hey!" It seemed like bassist would not accept a refusal easily that day.
Lisa handed her the dress and then dragged towards the fitting rooms. Fortunately for one of them, and quite the opposite for the other, two of them were free. Yukina went into the one further back and slid the curtain. A feeling of being tricked into the whole thing flitted through her head for a second, but then again, she could've refused at the start.
After a moment she was done, and also realized that she hurried because of the thought of Lisa peeking into the room while she was in the middle of changing.
"This was your idea from the beginning, am I right?" Yukina said, after sliding the curtain back.
"You wouldn't have agreed if I had told you." Both of them knew she was on point.
"I have to say, you look nice, but I feel like we can do better here." The mischievous plan seemed set in motion, and gaining momentum.
"What do you mean by that? I told you that I'll be going back if you lose track of time, deciding on things." Yukina threw a remark out there, just in case.
"Hey, it's been only minutes so far! Hmm, I think I'd like to try putting some details around this spot. Wait here for a second, I'll be right back," she said while already going off.
Yukina just stood there and wondered just how out of place she actually looks. Could she be more frank with Lisa? She certainly could, but was it something she wanted? Roselia's vocalist wasn't at the tipping point of saying "Just stop this, I'm not wasting time anymore!" yet.
Obviously she considered this purely a vanity trip, but a lot has changed since the time when she dismissed things like that outright, with no consideration. She went back to the fitting room and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Lisa chose a casual dress with a decorative hem just above the knees and some gentle frills few inches above wrists — nothing flashy, instead it was rather on the girly side.
It wasn't something Yukina would normally pick herself. Unexpectedly, she found a moment to pause just then and her thoughts started flowing. She was reminiscing about her early practice when she and Lisa were just starting to learn and every new genre, every technique was something fresh and exciting.
She recalled hearing an enka ballad for the first time and getting to know more traditional styles of performing. The deep and agile voice of an artist reverberated and left a mark in her memories. She was brought back to the ground by Lisa coming back with what appeared to be a couple of little artificial flowers.
"This is what I found, it's really incredible what they have here!" There was no denying she enjoyed herself.
"You can find almost anything if you know where to look or know someone who does." She said, boasting a bit.
"If you intend to attach them to my hair, you can already put them back." Yukina thought she shouldn't agree to everything.
"No, you didn't notice the color?" she responded, suppressing the laugh. "I want to put them here," Lisa explained while closing in and lightly pressing one of the flowers against Yukina's collarbone.
"Don't… don't you think the dress is fine as it is?" The moment of hesitation caused the whole sentence to sound like a cover for something else.
"Oh, it definitely looks pretty on you, but I think it'll look even better after attaching these around this spot," she moved away, holding the flower in place.
"Actually, I think I'd ask Rinko to help me. She always felt confident with our costumes." Lisa looked like she had an image of the accessories already sewed in in her mind.
"I should really be careful tagging along with you to these places. For now, though, Rinko will certainly have no problems at all with this. I guess… I can see myself wearing it from time to time." Vocalist did appreciate the thought and couldn't entirely hide her emotions.
"So, it was supposed to be one place, and you chose this shop, so we're leaving after I take the dress and the flowers to the register." Yukina started to like what her friend chose and thought it was all she had in mind.
"Sure, but… hold on, I have one more simple idea, please bear with me, I'll be done in no time!" Lisa pleaded, making a face like the one of a child asking for a candy.
Yukina once again was putting up some defense, but it was more like marking a resistance, rather than a real refusal. She turned her head and allowed gyaru to take the silver hairpin she picked and arrange her hair in a side tail, tying them up with it.
Experiencing mixed feelings, Yukina was impressed, thinking she wouldn't have been able to do it that neatly on her own, and at the same time felt like Lisa was taking care of her again. Her decision was to focus on the work in a café, just as planned, and continue to try to tip the balance in her favor. When Lisa was done, it would've been safe to say that Yukina looked like she belonged to the place.
Her look gained the allure that was something she never cared about. It occurred to her, though, that she should just leave her hair like that for the day, seeing how overjoyed her friend was. She changed back to her indigo blue skirt and a navy top, then left the shop, having bought the one-piece Lisa found. The latter didn't forget about the little flowers that she was convinced would refine the dress.
While they were walking past the other shops, Yukina had to pull her friend away a time or two, since all the collections were seemingly shining so much to her that it could've ended up being a much longer trip than planned. Once the two left the complex, Yukina glanced at the shops further down, and looking at the busy street, she noticed a familiar face.
Lisa thought she was spacing out for a second, but she soon saw a girl who used to be in a dance club with her in high school, coming out of a boutique. Four of them met after a few moments of Ako dashing, pulling Rinko with her and Yukina strolling, holding Lisa back.
"Lisa-nee, Yukina-san, you're both here! That's a fantastic surprise. Also, hey, Yukina-san, is that a new hairstyle you're trying? It suits you!" Ako was quick to notice the change that only lasted minutes so far.
"Not really, I just went with what Lisa thought about for the moment." She didn't expect somebody she knows would see it so quickly.
"Hey, it's nice to see you two here, Ako-chan, Rinko. What are you up to?" Lisa seemingly ignored the remark about Yukina's attire, which the latter was glad about.
"It's actually Ako-chan who invited me today, so we were in the accessory shop she was eager to show me," Rinko admitted, smiling bashfully.
"I did, but then Rin-rin had this idea to meet up with Lisa-nee in her café, and we actually bumped into you two on our way there!" Ako explained energetically.
"I thought you were normally working in the afternoon on Fridays," drummer continued, turning her head to Lisa.
"I would've been there today too, at this time, but I managed to switch with Naru, so she took the afternoon and I got to work in the morning, with Yukina." She ended the sentence smiling from ear to ear.
"Wait, did I hear that right? Yu-Yukina-san was there with you?!" The news evidently blew Ako's mind.
"I remember Lisa-san saying something vague about her working in a café with someone new to this job, but I expected that it would start only later," Rinko joined in.
"She was… thrilled about this." Taller of two gamers seemed to have noticed Lisa's joy.
"I am just doing this because of how busy Lisa recently is. I have some time during the break, too," Vocalist quickly explained.
They decided to enjoy a quick meal in a popular fast-food restaurant, since Rinko seemed a bit fatigued after a day of walking. After obligatory teasing about heaps of sugar that Yukina was keen on adding to her coffee, they spent the time chatting about what they bought and saw. Later on, the group decided to walk together towards the station.
Ako was holding a bag with a few items, like the necklace and aggressive-looking wristbands with spikes. Rinko was oddly knowledgeable, contrasting with cluelessness of the others. Taller of the two gamers wasn't empty handed either, and was coming home with two ribbons and an elegant white shirt, which she could certainly wear to a piano competition or a recital.
Lisa appreciated the sense of traditional chic that the attached contrasting ribbon created with it, and concluded the shirt would suit the owner. She also did mention the dress chosen for Yukina and asked for Rinko's help, which was met with an intrigued look from Roselia's drummer.
The sun started to turn red, so they didn't have much time left for chatter before splitting and boarding the trains leaving in opposite directions. At that point Ako blurted something out, which immediately caught Yukina's attention. She brought up recent unfavorable press in at least two magazines and asked if anybody else heard about it.
Rinko recognized the text of one such article, as she earlier sent a link directing to it to Lisa, who changed her expression upon realizing the fact. There were also comments floating around music sites on the internet, but these were usually very volatile and prone to manipulation. Some negative vibe from more recognized press was something else, though.
"Yukina-san, you surely must've read it, right?" Ako inquired indecisively.
"Of course I've seen it. What do you want me to say? The man is writing shit." This line was preceded by a moment of complete silence among the girls. "In spite of this, I have to agree that we seem to be in a lull of a kind."
"In a lull? It's true we didn't have a show scheduled for a while now." Lisa responded calmly.
"It's not about the break from lives, it's about the fact we don't have anything different to show, even if we had a concert tomorrow." Yukina made it sound a bit intimidating.
"What do you mean by that? Do you think we should change our look or come up with new songs?" Ako was a bit more confident this time.
"I think both. It's too early to say with absolute certainty, though. It also springs to mind that the way we practice has changed, and it influences our band." Yukina spoke with clarity, expressing the will to polish her ideas first.
"It really has. Do you all remember the times when we were able to pull off a week with seven rehearsals? That was insane!" Lisa's eyes sparkled with pride. "Although, back then we were fully devoted thanks to a certain someone."
"We have both Yukina-san and Sayo-san to thank for the rapid improvement during our high school days," Rinko noted.
"These were days filled with intense tension, but I… remember them with a smile on my face." Keyboardist's faint expression communicated feelings of nostalgia and happiness.
"I think we can get some of that drive back without dedicating that much time." Rinko finished visibly relieved.
"I agree in principle, but I fail to see how we're supposed to do that." Yukina recognized the value of such an idea, but also wasn't naïve and couldn't imagine it working straight away.
"Right… I mean, we're all members of Roselia here, but haven't we got a bunch of other stuff to do these days?" Lisa sounded disappointed.
"It's tough to get into the groove playing those songs if you're limited so much." This was a bitter continuation from the bassist, but Yukina could tell she was struggling to say it.
"I don't want you to approach this from such an angle, though. We've already been through a lot as a band, and we came back from bigger problems," Yukina countered vigorously.
"I think we need to be direct with our music, show our passion more. For now, don't get bogged down by this too much." Vocalist already pondered the general direction they should take and wanted to calm the others down a bit.
"Totally! There was that live at the popular festival which we felt would go well and get us closer to our goal," Ako barged in.
"We played there thinking we'll ace the show, but some people from the audience started leaving!" Drummer's vivid reminder caught group's attention.
"If we got over that, then we'll be fine now too!" Right before they parted ways, it was a line that cheered up Yukina, as well as others, likely.
Soon enough, four of them split into two groups with Ako and Rinko going towards Taito and Lisa having a shorter trip back to Ikejiri with Yukina, although with switching trains in the middle. Two childhood friends had a few minutes before the train arrival, but none would venture to break the silence.
The unforeseen meeting brought something that Yukina expected to happen sooner or later. Everyone had their say about the future of the band and now there was no hiding anything. The obvious obstacle was how to coordinate the training of all Roselia's members, but there was also the issue of introducing new ideas.
Yukina was trying to weigh pros and cons of doing something radical versus only refreshing their existing image. The band was not going to suddenly morph all the existing tracks into EDM hits though, that much was clear to her. Would adding two or three songs married with another genre be something acceptable?
These dilemmas popped into her thoughts as she was getting closer to figuring out her take on how to move things forward, and prevent Roselia from becoming a high school affair. When they boarded the train, Lisa was the first one to try to start a conversation.
Yukina, however, was still lost in thoughts and only gave a vague and parrying reply, then thanked Lisa for her invitation and that was about it. After arriving at Ikejiri later on, her friend promised to get back to Rinko about the dress and wished her good luck at the new job.
Yukina showed her gratitude and singer's expression changed to more serene for a second. She needed some good sleep for a few reasons and rushed to her apartment.