Lucky Music: Moé Café

Chapter 5: Arrival and Delay

"La la, la la la, la la, la la la," Kagami happily sang, shutting her webcam off. Tsukasa scribbled another incorrect answer on the paper before her, leaning closer and closer onto the table below. It was unusual, back at home, Kagami always hummed after talking with Konata. It was routine, Konata would call at night, Kagami would come back to her homework humming and helping her out. Yet this time, this time Tsukasa found the melody to be…irritating. Kagami continued, spinning to the left in the chair, stopping, and then swinging to the right. "La la, la la la, la la, la la la."

"Please be quiet," Tsukasa muttered under her breath. Kagami's inability to hear her annoyed her further though Tsukasa expected it. "Please, please be quiet. This assignment is really hard."

Suddenly an erratic squeak ringed into the air. The chair's spinning sent bolts through her ears; it was as if her sister was trying to ruin her concentration. Kagami's feet began to tap against the floor in rhythm with her singing. "La la la, la la, la la la, la la."

One more mistake, one more wrong answer, one more slight error in anything and Tsukasa knew she would snap. Snap. The lead broke off from her pencil, ripping a hole into the paper as she wrote. Kagami's singing started to grow louder. Tsukasa's hands needed something to do, anything to restrain herself. She tapped the pencil against the hard surface, harder and harder every second. This habit had grown ever since she started college classes and today it was beginning to fail its purpose. "Please be quiet onee-chan!" Tsukasa fussed, slamming her pencil against the table.

"Tsukasa…I'm sorry," Kagami said, putting a halt to everything. Serenity quickly melted into concern. "Is everything okay?"

"No, I…I'm sorry," Tsukasa whimpered. Returning to her work, her tired blue eyes slid over to the clock. Throbbing instantly came to her chest. A rush of desperation and anxiety animated her legs. "I-I have to get to work!!" she said in a panic, already heading into the bathroom.

The tsundere could hear her sister slipping onto the floor. "I'll skip the shower," Tsukasa said with a bruise on her arm, already undressing and grabbing her waitress uniform. "Tsukasa, just calm down, okay? You still have plenty of time to get to work."

"But I don't want to be late," whined Tsukasa. She managed to tie the red bowtie correctly this time. At least something went right so far. Opening her drawer, she patted around in search of her name tag. "Where did it go? Kagami, where's my name tag? I left here yesterday."

"Calm down, I'll help you find it," Kagami sighed, kneeling down on the floor beside Tsukasa's bed. Sweeping her fingers across the ground, she felt the flat object hit her nail. "Here you go."

"Thanks. I hope today will be easy, I'm so tired."

"It'll be okay," Kagami smiled, resting her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Just relax. You've been a little tense since we started college. When you come home I'll have dinner ready and a bath, okay?"

"Okay, I'll try my best today!"

"That's the spirit. I'll see you later. Have a good day at work." Tsukasa nodded, running down the dormitory hallways and giving her sister a wave farewell.

"Bye onee-chan! I'll bring back some cake from the restaurant."

"This day is getting better," the purple haired girl smiled, quietly closing the door. Watching her sister head towards the bus stop in front of the college, she waited until it came and Tsukasa left. With both gone, she closed the window and shut the curtains. She hopped into her bed and hugged her pillow tightly. Anyone walking near her door would hear the joyous squeals ringing from her smile. "Konata's coming! She's coming to Kyoto!"

"I'm coming baby!" Konata yelped out as she took her place in front of the others. Their train tickets checked out and the only hindrance between her and Kagami was time and the remaining distance to the train. Patricia and Akira desperately gasped for air in chase of their band leader, swinging their instruments and luggage along. "Wait for us!" Patricia pleaded. She could only watch Konata already step onboard, almost as if to leave them behind.

Walking down the aisle, Konata caught sight of a brown patch at the head of her seat. "Minoru?"

"Oh! Konata, you're here," he said in a fluster. Peeking behind her, he was struck with curiosity from the emptiness. "Where's the rest of the band?"

"Konata!" Patricia fussed, dropping her items onto the floor. "This isn't a convention, you can't run! I barely slept at all from the excitement." With those words her frustration flew into a flowery excitement as she absorbed the atmosphere around her. Putting aside her song not being chosen as the theme she found herself nearly breathless with Kyoto only a few hours away. Tonight would be their first live performance. At least she would be seen, at least she could play.

"It's a little high," Akira muttered, stretching her arms to put away her luggage on the higher shelves. With only that voice in his ears, Minoru found it impossible to speak. Silently, he watched as Konata placed a hand under the girl's bag, lifting it to the shelf. "There we go," Konata sighed. "All done."

"You seem taller than before," Akira remarked, squinting at the girl beside her.

"I do feel a bit taller, maybe with this ponytail my hair is all focused in one place instead of weighing me down," Konata grinned, unraveling the bow. Everyone seemed to pause to watch the waterfall of blue hair fall behind her legs once again. "Well, we should all take our seats. The train's going to depart in a few minutes," Minoru explained. "I should explain the scheduling with you all."

Every seat was occupied excluding one, the one next to Patricia. Akira stood next to Konata who found herself sitting next to Minoru. "What's up Akira?" Konata asked, noting the pout on her expression.

"Move Minoru," Akira sternly commanded.

"Huh? Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, I want to sit next to Konata."

"O-okay," he said, willingly removing himself from the seat and sitting next to Patricia. He didn't completely understand why he did it, why he obeyed so simply. "Anyway…we'll be in Kyoto in about three to four hours and there will be about an hour of preparation and practice before the actual event."

"What about afterwards?" Konata asked, pulling her head back.

"Afterwards is up to you," Minoru explained. "Just head to the hotel, show them I.D and you'll be able to access your room. Just please come to the train station tomorrow at noon or else you'll delay the show. But good luck! If there's anything you'll need I'm here to help."

"We're in good hands huh?" Konata smiled. Akira chuckled, gazing out the window once the train began to move. Minoru had ended another conversation with yet another humble and modest promise. He sat back down in his new seat, hoping the new silence meant they were content and not annoyed by his attitude. For everyone, though, the ride was nothing short of relaxed. Konata made sure to pack snacks for everyone and busied herself with preemptive thoughts of Kagami.

Patricia sung to herself, bouncing with the words of her own song, moving her feet to a different tune than the song planned for tonight. Akira spent her time watching images of Japan flash by her eyes. Excluded from this serenity was Minoru, whose focus continued on the pink haired girl across from him.

She was so silent and oddly calm. There would be moments where she would talk and laugh with Konata, pointing out the window like a child or leaning over her friend's shoulder to watch her play the Nintendo DS. "What happened to Akira?" he wondered to himself.

Brimming in his mind was the memory of their conversation long ago, before she left to Tokyo. She had made the effort to visit him and even apologize for the way she treated him. Never going into detail about it, the reason for her hostility against him was the unfortunate memories that came with the show. In other words, from the cracking voice she spoke with on that day and the blurs of human sadness in her eyes, they were memories he would never understand and that swept away the rage he held towards her, reverting him back to his kind, quiet self.

"She seems happy now, but…what could have made her like that?" Every day since that fateful apology, he felt a deep pit swelling inside his chest. He regretted ever letting Akira take control of that conversation and simply walking out like that. His translation of their paths crossing over coincidentally once again, in this band, was fate.

"Tsukasa, I have some great news," Kagami excitedly hummed as her sister returned from her classes. Her sister could only react with a dull sigh while dropping her backpack on the ground and her books on the table. Kagami noticed the small curves under Tsukasa's eyes; hopefully the news would be enough to brighten her dim face. "I was waiting to surprise you. Konata's band is going to play at the South Center tonight!!"

"Really?" Tsukasa asked, raising her head in disbelief.

"Yep! I already bought tickets for us. I figured you probably need a break from all your studying and work," Kagami proudly stated, waving the tickets by her face. Tsukasa could only nod in agreement. This really was a wonderful surprise. "Well, I have more motivation to study now and finish up early," she happily said with a new found brightness in her expression.

"Good. And I'll pay for everything tonight so you just hurry up and finish." Tsukasa immediately dove into her work afterwards, keeping the reunion with Konata in the side of her head. Afternoon classes were nearly over and evening was only a handful of hours away. Kagami excitedly walked about the room, rummaging through her closet for the perfect outfit. The feeling of wanting to look her best for Konata poured right back in, giving off a radiant glow in her smile. "I should probably wear something that can easily be taken off. I know what Konata wants to do."

Planning and preparations extended into the evening with Kagami finally able to choose a single outfit. She made certain to use the best soap; shampoo and body wash in the shower and unlocked the forbidden cosmetics she kept for special occasions. Adjusting her ribbons one last time in front of the mirror, she could see Tsukasa still sitting at the desk. "Tsukasa, you better get ready soon. The show starts in two hours and I want to at least be there an hour early."

"….."

"Tsukasa?"

Tsukasa kept her head down, rubbing her eyes with one hand as she let out a few sniffles. Kagami watched from the desk, noticing wet spots on her sister's nearly blackened papers. "Tsukasa…what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I'm sorry…onee-chan," she mumbled wetly. "I can't do anything right. Not a single thing."

Kagami instantly headed for the small desk, kneeling next to her sister. Leaning over her shoulder, Kagami could see the endless errors and scratches scattered everywhere on every page. The same problems were rewritten dozens of times and much of the page had been scribbled over. The saddest reality Kagami could see was that nothing was correct. Tsukasa pulled back the sheets under her arm, still hiding her face. "I'm just stupid. I tried and thought my hardest on these all day and still got them wrong!"

"Tsukasa…"

"And this is only the first term. What am I going to do when it gets harder? All I want to do is cook. Why do I have to take these other stupid classes?!"

"Tsukasa, calm down. You'll get better," Kagami nervously chuckled. "Besides, you're not stupid. I know what you can do."

She rose from the table and returned to the mirror. "Just put it aside for now and get ready. Going out for a while might help you relax and you can tackle the homework when we get back."

"I'm not…even done with my first assignment yet," Tsukasa grimly muttered. The hopelessness in her voice grew with the silence. Only the sound of her pencil waved through the air. "I'm staying…"

"What?! Come on Tsukasa, it's not that bad. You have to see Konata."

"No I don't. You're her girlfriend, she won't mind if I'm not there."

"That's not true. Konata loves being with you. She'll be disappointed if you don't come."

Tsukasa continued her fruitless work, roughly erasing another incorrect answer. Kagami quietly watched, waiting for a response. "I have to do this or else I'll have a bad grade early in the term."

"Tsukasa…don't stress yourself out."

"It's hard! I'm stupid!!"

"Well excuse me for trying to help you out!" Kagami fussed. The argument ended there, both turning their heads away from each other. Tapping her foot, the tsundere waited for an apology or anything at all but her sister remained quiet, scribbling again with that pencil. The answer was quickly erased. Kagami watched in disgust at the torment the girl looped herself into. Was it really that hard for her to complete one assignment? "Whatever. I'm going by myself," Kagami coldly stated, snatching her wallet and shutting the door behind her. Tsukasa stopped her writing, waiting only a few seconds before letting her pencil drop. She swung her arm against the table, pushing everything onto the ground. Louder than she knew, she cried in her arms, mourning her own stupidity. "Stupid classes!! I'm going to fail…the first term and I'm going to fail…"

Kagami kept her back against the door, listening as Tsukasa's shaky voice confessed everything. "I can't even understand all of this and it's only the first week…I'm so stupid!! I'm so stupid!! I knew I shouldn't have come here…Kagami's the only reason I passed high school…I just…I just want to quit."

"Tsukasa…" Kagami quietly interrupted, walking back into the room. Sitting beside her sister, she slid her arms underneath Tsukasa's and wrapped them softly around her back. One hand rubbed her back, the other her hair. "You're not stupid. Don't ever think that."

"But…b-but…"

"Shh. Shh. It's okay. I'll help you with your work tonight. Just…don't let college get the best of you okay? You're not stupid Tsukasa. You're not."

"But…what about Konata?" Tsukasa gently asked, holding on tightly to her sister. "I don't want you to stay here just for me."

"It's okay. Konata will understand. Plus, I might have some time left. Let's just start working okay?" Kagami smiled, picking up the scattered papers off the floor. Tsukasa sniffed loudly, not knowing what to do. Kagami chuckled and wiped away the tears from her eyes. "Come on, don't make me do this by myself," she playfully said.

"Thank you onee-chan. I'm sorry."

"Sure is freezing at night," Konata said, hopping off the train. The others lagged behind with their luggage and instruments. Patricia was able to keep pace with Konata the further away from the train they got. Adrenaline and excitement coursed through her body as the band's first live performance was only hours away. Akira left her bag next to Minoru, hinting for him to pick it up. "I'm just a slave huh?"

"This is it! Our first big performance!" Patricia squealed.

"I'm more excited about seeing Kagami," Konata replied. "I've waited so long to talk to her again and ravage her young body, no, in this situation she would ravage me. I can't wait! I wonder how school has been for her and Tsukasa."

"I guess we're all here for different reasons right?"

"Figured it out huh?" Konata smugly asked.

"I know…I was getting a little carried away about the theme song for the album," Patricia chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "You're here for Kagami, Akira's here to be away from her parents and I'm here…just because I want to be famous and have fun."

"Oh Kagami, you'll be cheering me on from the crowd and then I can make you feel better than everyone by taking you back stage or better yet, bring her on stage with me!"

"Don't worry if you don't see her in the crowd," Akira suggested. "You need to be more focused on the performance. This trip is meant to eliminate and judge the bands that lack potential."

"Right, right. But if I started bursting with energy and glowing, it's because I saw Kagami!"

Kagami: Hold him down.

Author: Where am I? Who are you people?

WHACK!

Kagami: That's for asking questions. This is for delaying your fic!

Author: Gaah!!!

Kagami: You gonna update regularly from now on?

Author:….

Kagami: I can't hear ya?! HUH?!

Author:…y-yes….I'll adjust my schedule…I'm already getting more sleep and working hard…

Konata: That's enough Kagami.

WHACK!

Author: Aaaah!!!