Inside the music studio stood Michiru and Tsu in the hallway, the two discussing the upcoming Halloween concert, mainly related to the latter's nearly completed song. From further down the hall, a familiar voice entered Michiru's ears, bringing her to turn to the side. There, she witnessed her sibling passing by one of her coworkers and approaching them.
"Mika! What brings you here?" Mild surprise tugged in Michiru's tone as her sister halted in front.
Raising a brow, Mika questioned back, "Isn't this the first time I'm visiting you as Otsu-chan's assistant?"
"I mean, yeah, but you could've at least texted me prior." Said assistant raised a stiff half-smirk.
"My phone died before I could do that. It's at home charging."
"I see. Still, you usually don't go out on your own besides work and errands at times."
Mika rolled her eyes. "I may prefer staying inside the house all day, but that doesn't mean I can't go out once in a while."
"Ah, is this your sister?" Tsu inquired, widening both her eyes and smile.
Clearing her throat, Michiru responded with her hands in front, "Yes. Twin sister."
The idol clapped her hands together, chirping, "That's so cool! I love whenever I meet a pair of twins at once! Blind crossing hole!"
Despite the tinge of red spreading on Mika's cheeks, she disregarded it by shifting the topic, "That's not why I'm here. I'd like to speak to Michiru if it's a good time; didn't get to earlier."
"I don't mind at all! We were just heading for the break room! I actually have something to say to her too! Spray burns eyes!"
Whirling her head towards Tsu, Michiru replied, "Really? You didn't tell me this."
"I had to go see the final design for my Halloween kimono! Sorry!" The singer clapped her hands together again.
Michiru shook her own, assuring, "It's all right, Otsu-chan; I'm not upset."
"Shouldn't we head for the break room?" Mika ushered.
"Oh, right," Tsu said, reaching for each hand from the two before starting in the opposite direction. The borderline jog caused the twins to trip on their own feet, though still able to remain standing.
"Can you at least slow down?! It's hard for us to keep up with you when you're practically yanking us!" Mika yelled with a stutter in the middle.
In an instant, the idol abruptly halted in front of a door. The sudden stop brought them to dig their heels into the floor, forcing a stop and preventing themselves from accidentally hitting her.
"Here we are," Tsu announced, making it apparent she didn't notice the glare from Mika and the frown from Michiru. Upon opening the door, no other individual stood in the break room, bringing a wide smile to her face.
"Good, nobody else is here!" A giggle seeped past her lips before finally releasing their wrists and stepping inside the break room. Both siblings brushed their fingers on the areas Tsu wrapped her fingers around rather tight.
"Did you have to grip so hard?" Mika asked, glare lessening while letting out a sigh.
"I didn't want to lose you two so yep!"
The only reactions Tsu received were blank stares from the sisters. Despite this, the two followed suit with Michiru being the one shutting the door.
As Mika and the pop star went for the nearest blue table, Michiru instead directed her focus to the one containing bowls and plates of snacks. She headed towards the latter half filled with miniature egg sandwiches. The other half had bread crumbs scattered. Grabbing a paper plate, she grabbed some of the sandwiches, soon returning to the other two.
"Before I start, I'd like to say that I want to keep this between us girls, even from my mom." Tsu held an index finger to her lips with a wink.
The last part brought Michiru to furrow an eyebrow. "Why?"
"She'd give me a really bad scolding if she found out. Pepper scorching tongue!"
Though pursing her lips on the reason, the assistant eventually trailed, "All right, then."
"So," She began, "you know how hard it rained a few nights ago?"
"Yeah," Mika said, holding her chin with a quirked eyebrow. "This is a coincidence."
Turning to her sibling, Michiru inquired right before taking a bite of one of the small sandwiches, "What do you mean by that?"
"I've been wanting to talk to you about this since yesterday but I practically passed out by the time I came home from work."
No immediate response from Michiru. Rather, a twist formed in her gut, bringing her legs to tense underneath the table. It worsened with each passing second, growing difficult and internally tortuous.
I should at least hear her out.
Mika returned her gaze toward the idol. "But Otsu-chan can go first. I'm rather curious."
Tsu beamed, "As I was saying, the rain suddenly gave me the idea to take a walk."
With the corners of her lips visibly curling down, Michiru held her words back until swallowing another bite. "You took a walk in the middle of the night and the rain?"
"I did!" The answer came out with no shame laced in her tone. This and that she essentially put herself in a risky situation had a heavy dark aura surrounding the older woman, convinced she turned chalked.
She should've stayed home. I dunno if any of her fans approached or even saw her, but I hope it didn't happen.
"Whenever I'd take a stroll through the rain, I usually hear music coming from it when it hits metal or the rooftops. Sometimes it gives me inspiration on what kind of song to write and I exchange these ideas with Tsunpo as well. Circuit talking mouse!"
As the last time, the twins gave their reaction in unison, this time enlarging their eyes a tad with parting lips.
Michiru thought, I think I get what she's saying…but it doesn't change anything. She still snuck out of home.
"But I stopped at some point because I heard what sounded like crying coming from a boat."
The woman's teeth came to a halt when barely scraping the bread.
"I stood there for a bit because I ended up recognizing your voice coming from inside. Spilling pill bottles!"
In the split second of her finishing, it convinced Michiru her own body not only turned to stone but cracked in addition. The small sandwich slipped from her fingers onto the plate. To make matters worse, Mika gawked at her, brows knitted.
She heard me. She seriously heard me moaning. I know I told myself to forget the outside surroundings but I should've been more considerate of the risk of being heard, never mind how hard it rained!
Color refilled her while attempting to limit her external reaction.
Tsu added, "Also, I could've sworn you said something like 'Anzai' or…'banzai'?"
As much as she tried keeping her composure, the sweat in Michiru's armpits caught Mika's attention. Her lips parted, about to speak again when a spark stabbed in the assistant's cranium.
Resting her palms on the table next to her plate, Michiru forced the corners of her lips to curl up until forming a smile, at least one enough for the other two to detect.
"It indeed was me," Michiru admitted, turning to her twin instantly afterward. "Mika, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I was in a hurry to meet up with someone who helped me with a bonsai tree."
"At the same time as Otsu-chan going on her walk?" Mika's voice went flat when asking, staring with blank eyes.
"They're busy; the only time they've had was late evening." Her reply rushed out more than the last one. Though not Michiru's intention, she strained to keep herself as conscious as possible of her word choice, along with making sure the pacing in her voice didn't go faster than necessary.
"When it wasn't going as planned, I practically yelled out 'bonsai' while on the verge of crying. Thankfully, the person I met up with is more experienced so it went smoothly in the end. I cried out again, but this time cheering 'banzai'."
Tsu said, placing a finger on her chin while shifting her gaze downwards, "Ah, that makes sense. I remember trying to care for a bonsai plant when I was a kid…" Her lips crooked before finishing, "…but I ended up ruining it." She forced out a meek chuckle to part from her lips.
"I didn't know you were even interested in bonsai trees," Mika said with a brow-raising.
Despite the inward flinch, Michiru added, tightening her smile to where her jaw started to sting, "I'm not that into them but it doesn't mean I can't be curious about how they're cared for."
"I just had an idea for a song! Caffeine-filled brats!" The idol chirped, lifting a sole finger. "I could write one about bonsai plants and cheer at some parts."
Dumbfounded at the sudden announcement but she cleared her throat when barely easing her features to the point of the strain diminishing.
"I'm happy to hear that."
"I think I'll bring this up to Tsunpo after I record one of my Christmas songs later today. The only lyrics I can come up with are 'planting this tree' and," Tsu balled a fist before lifting it in the air, concluding with, "'banzai banzai banzai!'"
Michiru winced inside, mainly from the topic ending up in a direction she least expected.
I kind of hope she doesn't tell Bansai I was the one who gave her this idea, to begin with.
The door suddenly opened, revealing one of the coworkers with the mic headset around his shoulders, and clipboard in his arm.
"Otsu-chan, there's a group of fans who'd love for you to sign their notebooks. Do you have a moment?"
Head perking up and darting her focus towards a said coworker, the girl made her answer in an instant, "I'd be thrilled!" Tsu abruptly stood up, reaching for Michiru's wrist before yanking her from the seat. The abrupt jerk caused the chair to stumble back until hitting the floor.
"Otsu-chan!" Michiru yelped while tripping on her own feet. With Mika, she had no time to finish even a lone word; only being able to snap her eyelids wide and stare off at the other two dashing out.
The coworker didn't show a trace of reaction. All he did was bow at Mika and shut the door again, leaving the woman alone.
As a droplet of sweat trailed down her cheek, Mika contemplated Michiru's "explanation" while holding her chin.
I have a hard time believing this, especially when she kept on sweating, more so than usual in fact. The word "banzai" sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.
Sparing another glance at the door from her peripheral vision, she added, I feel as though Michiru isn't being honest with me. Would she even answer if I were to ask about that?
The deeper her thought process was, the more questions and the bigger the itch in her head became. Mika scrunched her brow, fingers raking through her bangs as well as drawing out a small groan.
I don't get it. Do I not understand my own sister as much as I believe?
To be continued...