When nighttime came around the corner, Michiru returned in her normal attire before taking a stroll in a lighted street. She had her arms drooped with a dense aura hovering over throughout most of her walk.
I wish Terakado-san would've at least let me prepare more when she asked. Oh well, what's done is done.
She let out a heavy sigh at the memory from earlier, losing count on however many times she already did since her talk with the manager.
It didn't take much longer for the young woman to reach a building she intended to go for. Michiru stared up at the sign, 'Snack Smile'.
I'll think about it all over tomorrow. I know this isn't the best idea, but I want to take my mind off of things for now.
She soon went inside. Though she hadn't arrived here in months, the sight of almost every table filled with around ten customers and one or two servers didn't surprise her. The area was rather well-known, mainly from the main workers' attempts to avoid as much unwanted harm as possible. They did succeed and it wasn't to say Michiru didn't appreciate it…but sometimes they'd manage in extreme ways when it didn't need to reach that level.
However, she used the tips of her fingers to brush her shoulder. This wasn't an appropriate time to think of the employees.
Michiru went for the booth with the least amount of people; there being four others drinking while making chat. Not long after resting on the seat, a woman she recognized approached.
"Michiru-chan, it's nice seeing you again after a while," Shimura Tae greeted with a small smile.
"That's right," She replied after releasing a soft breath. "Been working and have had other personal stuff happening."
"Well, I'm glad you've managed to find time to visit. What would you like to drink?"
"Beer is fine with me."
After a nod along with a quick "all right", Tae started off.
While waiting in silence, Michiru glanced around the bar, spotting most of the other customers guffawing in the midst of them losing balance on their upper bodies. Wide smiles plastered on their features and though she knew they were wasted, Michiru involuntarily stared at their expressions. Well, more accurately, focused on them, paying little attention towards anything else in her surroundings.
She found this odd at first as she'd been here for a drink a handful of times, but upon growing pensive, she raised a hand to her chin.
I wonder how many of them feel genuine happiness right now…
A sound of a thud on the table in front perked Michiru's ears. Turning to the side, she caught sight of Tae placing herself beside her, also putting a glass on the table.
"You probably don't want to space out while drinking; otherwise you'll spill all over," She informed, yanking the cap off the brown bottle.
Michiru shook her head at herself before making an apology. How everyone else in this building felt wasn't any of her business. She didn't come here to do some sort of emotional investigation.
"Wouldn't want that happening." In agreement, one corner of her lips quirked up, resulting in it being crooked. The server lifted the bottle, soon pouring alcohol into the clear cup.
After she finished, Michiru held the now full glass with a firm grip.
Tae mentioned while witnessing her sipping on the drink, "Shin-chan told me a little about you being one of Otsu-chan's assistants. How has that been doing for you?"
"Not too bad, though sometimes it feels a bit much having to be with her practically all the time."
"Just make sure no creeps go near her. If they do," She paused to raise a hand, clenching her fingers, "give their crotches a tight squeeze."
The older individual responded throughout a hesitant chuckle, "I'll take that into consideration."
For some time—Michiru didn't keep track of how much had passed since arriving—the woman took slow sips due to the taste but her cheeks grew warm throughout. With the heat getting higher, her facial muscles eased, tolerance of the taste increasing to where she took bigger drinks.
"Bah, why doesn't the general public ever leave pop stars alone? They deserve their privacy. I can only imagine what goes through the idols' heads…" Most of her words came out in a slurred tone, but still comprehensible enough for Tae to understand in spite of the latter not saying much in response.
Michiru went on, "It's almost like the whole world is goin' against them. Don't they have better things to do, like banging their partners?"
"My, it seems you really are getting drunk," Tae said, the small smile held upon her features. "More so than the last few times."
"Good!" She puffed her cheeks. "People can really suck sometimes! I just wanna go somewhere where I'm away from everyone; then I wouldn't have to witness nor hear their bullshit!" All of a sudden, Michiru slammed her chest onto the couch, followed by pounding her fists on the seat cushion.
"Why can't the world be nicer?! It's so stupid!"
A pair of men holding hands with their bodies wobbling stepped towards the furniture, eventually turning around. Tugging her fingers in the back of Michiru's yukata, Tae yanked it, forcing the older adult back up right before the aforementioned men slapped their butts on the seat.
"Eh?" Michiru faced the worker with knitted brows and squinted eyes as well as her cheeks puffing again.
"You'll get sat and farted on if you lie on the couch," Tae warned, releasing her grip on the collar, having Michiru leaning against the backrest.
"Sounds gross," She replied after snorting.
Around forty minutes went by, with Michiru finishing her fourth glass. Tae left her at some point to serve another customer. Some yelling mixed with a gargle occurred at the other side of Snack Smile, though the redhead paid zero mind to it. Instead, she let out more laughs than she could count, about half of which she'd quickly forgotten the reason she found them funny in the first place.
"Can you believe how stupid some can get?! I even once questioned if it was just my imagination!" Despite guffawing at her own comment, the other customers ignored her to the point of scooting away to hear themselves.
The laughter seized when some form of fluid rushed up her esophagus; in a split second, she vomited on the table in front.
Even after finishing, Michiru remained still, blinking multiple times while staring at the puddle. Other people gawked but some cackled at the sight.
Stepping in front of the table, Tae told the drunk woman with a vein throbbing in her cheek in spite of the forced smile, "Michiru-chan, I think it's time for you to leave."
A different female headed towards her direction in big stomps, this one having tied-up blonde hair as well as scar down the left side of her flushed face.
"Why're you stealin' all the attention?!" She demanded in a similar slurred tone to Michiru's, although more aggressive. "I'm doin' somethin' way more interes—"
Right as there was an ample amount of space between the two, Michiru upchucked a second time. Here, she did it directly onto the blonde's face.
Before she could comprehend the whole thing, the other woman's foot slammed her ass, forcing her out of the bar.
Michiru's body rolled on the dirt, coming to an immediate halt from hitting a different building. She went upside down, legs close to face. Wasting no time, she whirled around to stick her tongue out for a second, subsequently pushing herself up albeit swaying initially.
When straightening her figure enough to not fumble again and brushing the dirt off her clothes, Michiru began her stroll through the street.
That was, until passing in an alleyway two or three houses down while her arms lowered the same way when she arrived. Soon sitting on the ground did she dig behind her collar, pulling her cellphone out.
"At least you're safe," Michiru's lips pursed in a grin as she used a thumb to flip her phone open. She went for the contacts section, soon having an ultimate decision on one. Though usually preferring to text, she made the choice to go for the "call" button. A giggle seeped past her lips as the intoxicated woman raised the phone to her ear, deep rings emitting.
Two rings and the call picked up.
"Michiru?" The low voice on the other end said her name, bewilderment lacing in his tone.
"Yo, Bansai," She greeted, snickering once more.
"Not that I'm upset, but do you have a reason for why you're calling me?"
"Texting takes too long," She deadpanned. "And I don't wanna go over a million typos."
It didn't take more than a couple seconds for him to guess, "Are you drunk?"
Michiru sang, "Ding ding, you are correct~!"
Drawing out a sigh, Bansai inquired, "Is there anything you need from me?"
"Yes, actually. See, I know how to get home from here, but my legs gave up on me when I tried walking." The woman let out a burp. "Are you in town?"
"I am, but where are you at?"
"A bit away from Snack Smile. Familiar with the area?" A hiccup came about in the midst of her belching.
"Not much, but enough to recognize it. You didn't black out, did you?"
"No, thank god, but I did puke. Totally disgusting, but it made me feel a bit better after it happened. Funny how that works, huh?" Though making her nth chortle, Bansai said nothing to her succinctly obscene description in contrast.
"Well, I'm going to assume you want me to carry you home? Is that the reason you're getting a hold of me?"
"Yup." Her answer came out with no delay. "It's almost like you read my mind. Amazing!"
"I'm not a mindreader, Michiru. The way you're talking makes it quite obvious. Listen, if you want me to bring you home, you're going to have to navigate me there by the time I find you; otherwise I won't know where it is, resulting in both of us getting lost."
"Ah, right, right." Using her nails to scratch her scalp, Michiru pointed her gaze at the opposite end of the alleyway. "Guess I'll see you soon?"
"Yes, but please stay where you are."
"Gotcha!" She lifted a thumb as if he'd see it. After the conversation concluded with the other end clicking off, Michiru shut her phone while chirping a "yippie".
Throughout her wait in boredom, she did nothing but hum and sing one of Tsu's songs, regardless of whether she remembered enough of the lyrics to do the whole thing. In the end, Michiru slurred out a handful of words from "Chome-Chome". The side of her body soon hit the dirt beneath.
She stilled, staring at the wall in front until a pair of footsteps approached.
"Why're you lying on the ground?"
Glancing up from the corner of her eye, she spotted Bansai furrowing an eyebrow.
Michiru grumbled, "I got my ass kicked…literally. I sat on my ass too long so now it hurts."
When the awkward pause ended up lasting a tad too long, the man heaved a sigh similar to the one on the phone.
"Do you think you can get up?"
"Oh yeah, you're carrying me." Michiru used her palms to push her figure upwards. The frown stuck on Bansai's features deepened upon witnessing a few light spots on her yukata.
"You have some vomit stains." He slid the shamisen in front of himself. Cupping her armpits, he hoisted her until properly standing. He released his grips to have his back facing her. "Hopefully you won't throw up again."
Michiru pouted, attempting to not fall over, "But I said I feel better."
"That doesn't mean you're immune from doing it again, I daresay."
"Heh, we'll see about it."
"Please rest on my back."
She did so by wrapping her arms around Bansai's neck, the latter wrapping his' behind her knees. Not long after making sure the woman had herself pressed against his back to avoid falling, Bansai stood straight, eventually restarting his stroll with his pace slower than when meeting.
Not even two minutes and the sound of grumbles and snoring brought him to turn until catching her in his peripheral vision. Her eyes shut as a bit of saliva trailed down her chin.
He used an elbow to gently nudge her ribcage, snapping Michiru's eyes wide in an instant.
Jolting her head back while clenching the area next to the lapels, she piped, "Holy crap, I didn't realize how tired I was! This has to be the record for my fastest sleeptime!"
"Stay awake until you're home," Bansai advised, completely ignoring her second comment. "As I already stated, I can't read your mind."
"Okay, okay. Anyhow," Michiru paused to take a deep breath, finishing, "go straight, then left."
She said nothing but directions for a short time. During it, the musician followed most of them, with one or two slip ups.
At an area where voices grew distant and the amount of light decreasing, Michiru rested her chin on his shoulder to mutter, "Say, Bansai, wanna give me a kiss to make me feel better?"
"Not while you're intoxicated."
"Aww, not even a peck?"
"No."
Huffing at his rejection, she responded, "Fine, be that way. I got something I need to tell you anyway."
"And what would that be?"
"Those lyrics you wrote were embarrassing!"
Blinking once behind his shades, Bansai guessed, "The ones Terakado-dono rejected?"
"Yeah! Why'd you write something like that? My embarrassment got obvious enough for Terakado-san to scold me!" Her face buried behind her arm on his shoulder.
"I can't say I'm surprised. Michiru, I didn't write them to make you feel this way. It happened to come across my mind when writer's block hit me in the process. Besides, this isn't the first time lyrics I've written have been denied."
She suspired, furrowing her brows. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. It simply took me by utter shock when I read them. I knew you'd write something based on me at some point…just not like this."
Bansai went quiet; the most he did was part his lips and give her a glance by peeking out from the sunglasses.
Michiru's forehead lightly hit his back. "How come life is so unfair?"
That was when he halted entirely in a spacious alleyway to inquire, "What're you asking?"
"Most couples would love to go out on dates and be affectionate. We can't do anything like that, which sucks because…" Wiping her runny nose in her sleeve, she continued through more burps, "I want to tell others about you, how interesting you are as a person, but it's not possible. It can't happen without people freakin' out, producer or assassin."
Her fingers tugged in the material, water beginning to blur her vision.
"I was able to forget about it to have a good time at Snack Smile, now it's popping in my head again…damn it." The woman used the other sleeve to wipe the unshed tears. "Why doesn't a perfect world exist?"
Bansai murmured as he stared at her droopy eyes, "Why don't you return to navigating? How much farther is your home?"
Michiru sniffed and rotated her head around, spotting no other individuals around the area. "It's close, but I can't see very well in this darkness." The only lighting to help her sight was a tad from the moon, half blocked by clouds. "Keep goin' straight until I recognize a turn."
"Very well." He resumed his stroll.
Not much longer passed until yellow light illuminating inside a house came into his view.
Bansai readjusted his arms to prevent Michiru from slipping down while asking, "Is this where you live?"
She let out a huge yawn and rubbed her eyes with her palms. "Almost nobody else lives close to Mika and I, so yeah."
"I see." As soon as he went in front of her small home, Michiru shifted her overall figure, leading the producer to gradually loosen his hands. It allowed her to stand, though stumbling on her feet like earlier. Thankfully, Bansai held her until she sat down next to the wall.
There, Michiru's eyes fully closed before she started snoring again. This time, he did nothing to wake her. Rather, he hit a fist on the door a handful of times and then stood in the shadow on the side.
The door opened, instantly with Mika exclaiming, "Michiru, you puked on yourself! Gross! You need to get cleaned up!" From the aforementioned shadow, Bansai perceived some grunts from the twin.
"Can you at least move on your own? I don't wanna have to drag you!"
The closest to a response Michiru made were grumbles, making out a sole coherent word, "…tired."
Sighing, Mika shut the door. Bansai remained in his spot until the small thuds from inside eventually diminished.
Sliding his hands into his pockets, the man started off. In the midst of taking his time through the area of primarily empty houses in silence, he reiterated Michiru's blubbering rant.
Her drunkenness became evident the moment she spoke on the phone but part of him wondered if it really was the alcohol speaking for her. It wasn't to say he never noticed her getting emotional to a degree while sober.
However, when the tune from Michiru's song played in his mind, Bansai thought, It's the same yet simultaneously different. Somehow, it's grown…melancholy.
He lowered his gaze to the ground, lips pursing.
Michiru…
To be continued…