Anon asked: Song of Life prompt! For some reason, Tadaaki, Hikari, and especially Mei always get a weird feeling when their 'aunt' Tsumugi comes around to babysit. Mei doesn't know why, but she always feels a dangerous aura of sorts around the Ultimate Cosplayer... It's nothing, right...?
Welcome to Underlying Melodies, where I take what were technically supposed to be headcanon prompts and turn them into flash fanfiction (meaning each is 1000 words) because I have no chill. Enjoy!
"Thanks for watching the kids," Kaede said as she shouldered her purse. Mei watched from around the corner; she knew that her mom was going out with her dads and aunts and uncles. That was why someone else was babysitting her and Hikari and Tadaaki. They were sitting down in the living room already; Hikari was teaching Tadaaki how to play one of their favorite video games, but Mei wanted to keep an eye on her mom right up until she left.
"It's no problem at all!" Tsumugi said with a smile. Mei had only met her on a few occasions, since Tsumugi lived a little further off than her other honorary aunts and uncles. Still, all of their parents must trust her enough to watch them.
...But for some reason, Mei just couldn't. There was always something off about Tsumugi, but she couldn't put her finger on what. Her ten-year-old brain couldn't quite comprehend it, as much as she tried.
"Mei, c'mon, we're getting to the good part!" Hikari called from the living room. Mei stiffened as Kaede and Tsumugi turned to look at her in her "hiding place."
Kaede smiled over at her. "Be good for Tsumugi, alright? I'll be home in a few hours." Mei watched her leave, watched Tsumugi close the door behind her and wave through the window.
Mei didn't wait for Tsumugi to turn back before going into the living room and joining Hikari and Tadaaki. "You guys don't think there's anything strange about her? Like, at all?"
Hikari pauses the game with a sigh. "Our parents trust her, so she must be alright. Otherwise they wouldn't leave us alone with her, duh. C'mon, Tadaaki's just getting the hang of this."
"Fine. Pass me a controller." Tadaaki did so happily- well, not passed so much as thrown- but Mei still caught it easily. She was used to him throwing things at her by now. Seven year olds and their energy. So tiring.
Even above the video game's music, she could hear Tsumugi working nearby on her laptop. Mei had no idea what she did for a job, but somehow the sound was menacing even though she's heard her own mother respond to many emails at a time, which produced the same sound. It was strange how the same sound could feel so different.
Hikari and Tadaaki obviously weren't on the same page as her. She kept a sharp eye on Tsumugi, even if that meant losing the game and angering Hikari, since that eventually brought their entire team down. After a few rounds of this, Hikari paused the game and looked over at her in annoyance. "Maybe we should watch a movie instead?" Nothing in her tone was accusatory; it was just the way she looked at Mei, like Mei had made them lose on purpose.
"Megamind!" Tadaaki voted immediately, something Mei could get on board with. Megamind was one of her favorite movies. "Aunt Tsumugi, watch with us!"
"I'll be right in there!" Tsumugi responded, a smile evident in her voice. Mei frowned at it. She didn't like that nobody was taking her seriously about this.
Mei flicked his arm. "What did you do that for?" she hissed, stealing a cautious glance at Tsumugi.
He rubbed his arm, only slightly annoyed. "Being nice. Didn't Aunt Kaede teach you that?"
Hikari rolled her eyes and sat between them. "Shush. Let's just watch the movie." She pressed play on the remote, having already set it up.
It made it hard for Mei to concentrate on the movie with Tsumugi right there next to her. Every time Tsumugi shifted, Mei took a moment to look at her through the corner of her eye. There was no way that Tsumugi was just enjoying this. She had to be up to something, didn't she?
By the time she was able to relax a little more, the movie was already mostly over. It wasn't too late, only about eight o'clock, and Kaede usually let Mei stay up until she got home anyway. Tadaaki, on the other hand, was already starting to crash a bit. He was barely watching the movie either, just snuggled under a blanket with his eyes half-lidded. Kids.
Hikari, on the other hand, was totally invested; as was Tsumugi. Mei never understood this part of the movie, when the redhead dude just went all mean because the girl didn't want to date him. She never really got why it was such a big deal. Either way, it was her least favorite part, so she supposed she could spare her attention to monitoring Tsumugi. Who, really, was doing nothing but watching the movie. That was almost more boring than the scene.
"Can we have cookies?" she asked after a minute, hoping that would wake Tadaaki up. She needed to prove her feelings to both him and Hikari at the same time, otherwise the effect was all for naught. "There's some on the counter."
"Sounds alright by me." Mei watched, still as a statue, as she got up and went into the kitchen. She shifted so she was watching Tsumugi instead of the movie, to which Hikari sighed and shook her head. That dangerous aura wasn't around Mei as much now that Tsumugi wasn't next to her, which surely meant that she was the source of it. There was no way she wasn't!
"You seriously need to stop," Hikari whispered, punching Mei's shoulder. "Aunt Tsumugi is a good person. She's not dangerous. Just let it go and enjoy the night, okay?"
Mei gave her the stink eye before returning her gaze to Tsumugi anyway. Sure, what Hikari said was logical, but she was certain that she was right. All she needed to do was keep an eye out for as long as it took, just to prove herself right. She might be young, but at least she knew that a feeling like this wasn't nothing. It had to mean something.