Chapter Text
After a long day at work, Ritsu Shikishima finally made his way home to an apartment in a more suburban part of Yokohama. He felt like he was ready to collapse right there in the doorway, but he’s sure his sister would chastise him for that… teasingly, but still. Ritsu took off his shoes and called out into the apartment, in a rather dull monotone.
“...I’m home.”
Ritsu could hear the sound of the TV being turned down before a response from his sister came.
“Welcome home. They’re really keeping you late, huh? Well, I guess it makes sense…”
“Yeah,” Ritsu said with a slight nod. “The company’s been… under fire for a while, now. Hard to believe it’s almost been a month since we got back already… What about you, Ranko? What have you been… up to?”
Ranko muted the TV -- it was playing an old drama she had seen about a hundred times already -- and stood up. It always struck Ritsu, once they became adults, how similar their sense of fashion was. To him, it just seemed like regular clothing, but Ranko had described it as… what was the word she used? Butch? That sounded right. Today, she had been wearing an all-black outfit, consisting of a leather jacket, tank top, and high-waist pants.
“Let me show you,” she said as she walked into another room. There was a room by her bedroom that, on paper, was a storage closet, but it was big enough for her to use it as a makeshift art studio. At the center of the room was a detailed sketch for a mural of a giant, blooming torch ginger flower, with two featureless figures atop it -- one pink, the other orange -- and a series of names along the bottom.
Ritsu didn’t recognize most of these names, but two of them stood out to him -- “Asuka Natsume” and “Kotaro Tomoe”. Was this…
“This is beautiful, sis! Is it, um… I’m guessing it has to do with Astral Syndrome.”
Ranko nodded. “Yeah. It’s meant as a memorial for everyone who died while they were under Astral Syndrome. If it was up to me, I’d have taken a few of these names off, but I’m sure that wouldn’t end well for me or the guys who commissioned me for this.”
After a few seconds, Ritsu formulates a response. “...Mm. I can see that. It’s like… You probably saw a bad side of them that… m-maybe they didn’t show off to the world. To everyone on the outside, though… they were a victim of some disease. Gone too soon.”
Ranko didn’t know it, but Ritsu was in agreement with her for more reasons than just that. As a Musician, he, too, had seen… a certain side of some of these people, Asuka specifically, whereas Ranko had seen a different side. There was a lot Ranko didn’t know, but… that was for later. Probably. Though never was more likely, given his general anxiety…
“Yeah,” she said. “You know, in all the times we ran into each other back there… I don’t really remember you saying anything about the kinda people you had met, beyond your classmates. Was that really all you were doing, just going to school the whole time?”
Ritsu suddenly felt a chill. Did she…? No. There’s no way she could have known about that. About… Lucid. He took care to never reveal his identity to anyone other than Mu herself; Asuka and a few of the others had seen him outside of his Musician getup, but he never revealed his name, thanks to the paranoia he had of getting sold out. Wicked especially seemed like she would have exposed him to the Go-Home Club just for laughs.
“Well--” Ritsu is about to answer, before Ranko cuts him off.
“Ah, I guess it doesn’t really matter that much. As long as you were happy there… That’s what matters, you know?” she said to him, with a smile.
Ritsu would have breathed a sigh of relief, but Ranko probably would have found that a little weird.
“...Yeah. You’re right. I know you were fighting to get out of there, but… I’m glad you were able to make friends there, too, sis.”
“Really? Aw, thanks, little bro!”
“H-hey, you don’t have to call me that. I just turned 25…”
“Well, I’m still older, even if you already look like you’re pushing 30, so there. Seriously, how are you not already burnt out on that job…?”
“It’s like they say: ‘Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’”
“Hmm… I guess that’s true. I don’t remember hearing you complain about your job before you went under, so… yeah.”
“I do like it there, a lot. And I’m glad to have such a supportive boss. Sh-- Tachibana’s been really accommodating for me, since I got back.”
Ranko caught the slip. He always talked about his boss so fondly… were they on a first-name basis, now? Or maybe their relationship is getting to be more than just coworkers…
Well. Not that she could judge. She'd been sitting on a message to Ayana for who knows how long-- she still had her contact info, all she had to do was send it. So... why had she been so hesitant, the past few weeks? Obviously because she didn't want to drag Ayana down with her. She probably was able to go back to doing something she liked, while Ranko was just--
She picks up a pencil and starts twirling it in her hand to distract her from her own thoughts.
"That's good," she finally said to him. "Well... I should try and work a bit more on this before I go to sleep, so..." She took a seat with her sketchpad.
"Go to sleep? It's not even 10 PM yet."
Ranko shrugged. "What else am I gonna do tonight? It's not like there's any parties happening on a Tuesday night..."
Ritsu seemed satisfied with that answer. "Alright. I'm probably gonna be up for a while, so... if you need anything, let me know, okay?"
"Thanks," she said. "You can close the door on your way out."
As Ritsu left the room, he did just that.
Ritsu walked over to the couch, shutting off the TV (what a waste of electricity. Why did she always do that if she wasn't going to be watching it anymore...?) and checked his phone. No, still no messages. He, too, had been able to keep all his contacts, so everyone he knew from the Musicians was just a text message away if he really wanted to talk to them. He'd just have to make sure Ranko never looked at his contacts... After a few seconds of looking through the list, his eyes settle on one of the contacts.
Kuchinashi.
For some reason, he felt compelled to catch up with her. There was an awful lot to talk about... He composed a text message, then grabbed a beer and started making some instant ramen for himself. Ritsu had a feeling he was in for a long conversation.