The first week of being an assistant went smoother than Michiru expected. It wasn't to say she didn't flub from time to time; nobody would get it done perfectly in any job in their first couple of days. The point was her managing not to embarrass herself frequently, which couldn't have been more relieving.
At the music studio, Michiru stood next to the door of the ladies restroom, waiting for Tsu to finish. No other female went in as Ichi insisted Tsu would do her business alone to avoid anyone potentially harming her. She found it ridiculous at first, but then recollected some old news of her endangered, most prominent being taken hostage while being a Shinsengumi chief for a day.
Having her cellphone open, she scanned a text message from a half hour prior.
'I'll be arriving in Edo later today. Do you think you'll have time to see me in person when you're off work? You've told me you've been very preoccupied by it.'
Michiru pressed into the buttons. 'I believe I will. I think I'm getting the hang of this and I wrote down important aspects for being Otsu-chan's assistant, so I can see you again when I get off. There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about, but I'll wait until then.'
She finished her response as a flush muffled behind the door. Michiru paid little heed to the noise; more attentive to her unsent text, checking for any errors. When finding none, it brought the corners of her lips to curl up.
The door opened without a creak. Michiru didn't seem to notice Tsu stepping out of the bathroom, as she said to herself, "There we go."
Without a second thought, the pop star spared a glance at the top of the screen on her cellphone. The text itself had been too small for her to decipher, but the name of the person Michiru communicated with appeared thick enough to make it clear.
"I didn't know you had contact with Tsunpo!" Again, didn't think of it beforehand.
A sharp yelp tore from Michiru's lips in addition to her flinching, practically loosening her grip on her phone. Using two digits to flip it closed, she inserted it in an outer pocket before darting her head around, facing Tsu.
"Did you...see it?" Michiru hesitated, the smirk placed on her face twitching.
"I did, but it wasn't on purpose!" Tsu rushed the latter half of her sentence whilst waving a hand side to side at a swift pace. "Though, how do you know him? When did you start contacting him? Does he also add meaningless comments at the end of his sentences?"
Did she admit her own end comments being meaningless?
Dropping the question, Michiru raised her hands in front, responding, "Otsu-chan, one at a time, please!"
After blinking a few times in silence, Tsu said, "Sorry. I'm just confused since I never see him in person. Pig rock hump!"
"Okay." When taking a deep breath to gather her thoughts, Michiru started answering in a rush despite being bombarded with inquiries, "I met someone who happened to be him, I got in contact with him by phone a few months ago, and no he doesn't."
I know it was only three questions, but I didn't think she'd find out, much less scare me from behind!
"Oh, I see." Tsu held her chin for a moment. "I don't want to invade his privacy, so I'll just ask one thing. Liver spotted whales!"
"And what's that?" Michiru inadvertently held her breath, bracing for whatever question the girl wanted to ask.
Lifting up an index finger, Tsu said with a grin, "Describe him in one word!"
Nothing but dead ambience surrounded the duo. Droplets of sweat poured down her face; while the weather cooled slightly, it wasn't enough as the armpits of her suit soaked from dampness forming.
Wanted…like hell I'm using that! Find another word!
"Weird."
Tsu wordlessly stared at her, expression unchanged.
Michiru cried in her head the longer it went without either saying anything, How am I supposed to answer when I have to prevent myself from spilling the beans?!
She continued, forcing out her voice, "As in he makes no sense sometimes."
Cocking her head to the side, Tsu asked, "Is it the lyrics he writes or how he acts?"
"Both, I guess."
A giggle emerged from the pop singer. "He most certainly is creative with lyrics. Maybe he relates to them. Water pressure thirst!"
I don't think "relate" would be the right word.
"In fact, since you see him, you can even give him some inspiration for lyrics!"
"Whoa, hold up!" She exclaimed, straightening a hand up. "Don't you think that's a bit much? I don't know how I'd do it when all he does is write...daring songs."
"It doesn't need to be literal!"
"That's not the point!" To her annoyance, her face began burning. "I don't feel like I can inspire him with anything…"
Tsu shrugged. "I know I and a few other assistants have inspired him plenty of times, so I believe he'd do the same for you."
"I…I suppose I can't argue with that…" Michiru scraped her nails below her neck hair. "But I'd like it if you didn't tell anyone about this."
"I won't, but I'm curious. Why do you want to keep this a secret?"
"I prefer not to have a ton of attention brought towards me when it comes to Tsunpo."
While pondering on her confession, Tsu inquired, "So you're an introvert?"
"Yeah, basically."
Michiru shifted the topic right as a thought popped into her head, "I think I'll also tell Terakado-san since she's your manager."
The corners of the singer's lips twisted upwards, followed by her chirping, "That's a good idea! I'd feel bad for keeping this a secret from my mom. Gummy inner cheek!"
"But other than her, nobody else," Michiru insisted, keeping her voice as low and serene as she could.
Tsu held a thumb up in her direction. "Gotcha!" Turning the other way, she started off with Michiru following suit. "Anyway, we need to meet with the designers to plan out a Halloween themed kimono for my 'Monster Live' concert!"
"Right. I'm really curious on how it'll turn out."
"Same. I bet it'll be covered in candy corn! Wax mannequin figures!"
Michiru held back a chuckle, pressing two fingers on her pursed lips.
"I've also written a few lyrics for my Halloween song but the only idea I've had for it was ghosts. I want to do more than that! Maybe nothing too extreme, just enough to scare people. Skunk spray flower!"
"Hopefully you'll come up with something sooner than later. Time isn't slowing down."
"That's what mom told me!" Tsu turned her head to the side until Michiru came into sight, holding a deep frown. "I'm not going to fall behind! I will come up with something good!"
A small smile tugged on her lips. "I'm sure you will."
Later…
By the time her shift ended, Michiru went home first to change in her casual wear and let her hair down, cooling off more so than with the suit on. She didn't worry too much about the possibility of Mika discovering she went on a stroll at night again, due to her having overtime.
The sun set, though still enough lighting for one to not require a lantern or generally worry about not being able to see anything clearly.
While resting her bottom on one of the benches with her back facing Bansai's, the woman held a bottle of water. Well, more so tilting her head back, chugging the water down without choking.
"Even though you have my alias in your contacts, you need to be careful when you're talking about me with other people, especially Otsu-dono," Bansai said, scanning over his paper half filled with lyrics with no title.
Landing the bottle on her thigh, Michiru exclaimed as waterfalls poured down her cheeks, "You think I don't know that?! Man, trying to keep my interactions with you a secret is far more challenging than I want it to be."
"Your awkward nature isn't helping you either, I daresay."
"Thanks for stating what I already know…" She trailed off in a grumble, then let out a heavy sigh. "Seriously, it was hard even telling Otsu-chan and Terakado-san about me interacting with Tsunpo."
He turned his head to the side before saying her name, "Michiru."
"Huh?"
"I'm not mad at you for telling them you meet me as Tsunpo."
Perking her head up before whirling in his direction, she asked, "You aren't?"
Bansai shook his head while resting the paper on his lap. "However, I want to give you a piece of advice for future reference."
Michiru held a twitched smile in the midst of sensing an unbearable aura landing on her shoulders.
"The more nervous you get, the bigger the risk of my identity being exposed."
Hunching down, Michiru's cheeks burnt at his light scolding. "I'm aware, Kawakami-san. I try to keep as calm as I can whenever I feel this way, but…it's becoming strenuous. I'm already worried about my mental health possibly crashing while I'm working, this is just piling on to the load."
"They don't know?"
"Not my breakdowns, no. The last thing I want is for them to worry. Even thinking of it makes me uneasy."
"I can understand your reason but it's not a very good idea to bottle it up."
Michiru's brows furrowed at his point; the weight of the dead ambience brought a strong twist in her gut.
It's not that I want to bottle it up. Dammit, why is everything in which I don't want to keep to myself, my body tells me practically the opposite?
"Can we drop this for now? I know I brought it up, but I really needed to vent."
"All right," Bansai accepted, shifting the sheet behind the rest. "Didn't you want to discuss something different with me anyway?"
"Right." Bringing a fist to her mouth, Michiru forced out a cough. "So the main thing I wanted to speak to you about has to do with Otsu-chan's 'Children Having Fun' concert. I was thinking of inviting you to watch it with me in the dressing room; she has a TV mounted there."
"I can do that."
Michiru's eyes widened while gawking at the back of his head. "Wow, I didn't expect you to say yes let alone this fast."
"I'm not going to be as busy for the next week, if not two."
A hint of a smile tugged on her features, but when a thought sparked, she indicated, "But you'd have to arrive without being noticed. I would ask how you're gonna get inside, but I bet you'll figure it out."
"I will, indeed."
"Wait…I'll end up having to put the 'Dressing room full' sign on the door to avoid anyone else going in. Gah, now it's more lying."
He arched a brow up. "Would you rather have people find out?"
"No, absolutely not!" Michiru exclaimed, her head shaking at a rapid pace. "What I'm saying is I keep doing this with everyone I mostly talk to, which honestly feels miserable."
"Michiru, do you remember what I told you when you met me at the boat?"
Despite inwardly cursing at his question, she responded, her tone quiet yet audible enough, "Lying is a bit like betraying." The heat crawling over her face increased right after finishing her sentence.
After shaking her head a second time, Michiru abruptly stood from the bench as well as clenching her fingers around the now empty bottle. Paying zero mind to it, the woman raised the fist with said bottle.
"I don't wanna think about that right now! We're gonna watch the concert together, so I need to ease myself for it!" An internal visual ran, with her and Bansai viewing Tsu's show through the television and listening to whatever songs would end up being played and sung for the children…together…and alone.
"Huh, it seems like we'll watch it as a coup—" Upon catching her careless comment, Michiru's blood boiled to where the redness reached her neck.
"Hm?" Pressing his fingers on one side of his yin-yang headphones, Bansai shifted it back enough for any outside sounds to fill his ear. "I daresay I couldn't hear you; the song suddenly hit a strong bass."
Sweat beads incessantly ran down her upper body; she twisted it with force to where she jerked once or twice. Michiru raised her forefinger from the crushed plastic while the strain on her jaw stung.
"Computer virus attack!"
Did I seriously resort to using a random comment Otsu-chan said?
Bansai's expression had no difference nor did he make any reply, thus bringing the aura to grow rigid.
Rather than allowing her mind to continue assuming the quietude pressured over her figure, Michiru announced, "Now that it's settled, I'm gonna head home. I'll see you in the public hall's dressing room, so bye!"
Before the musician had a chance to bade also, Michiru spun in a half circle, soon sprinting off.
Staring off in her direction, Bansai wondered, I only heard the first part, but her tune went towards a relaxing piano piece in spite of how panicked she appeared.
He rested the headphone back over his ear in the midst of standing as well and folding his small stack of papers. One corner of his lips ascended at the melody continuously echoing in his thought process.
"I'll see how her song goes when I meet her next."
To be continued...