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Chisato was enjoying her rare day off work in the warmth of her home, having the house all to herself as her parents and sister were out at the moment. She was by no means a dreamy person, but she enjoyed a good novel from time to time as she was doing now, flipping the pages leisurely while Leon nudged his head on her lap. She stroked a hand down his long coat and felt him relax under her touch. It was such a calm and wonderful afternoon.
It would’ve been perfect if her phone would stop vibrating. She would’ve turned it off if she weren’t waiting for a message from her manager, alas it was not her manager messaging her but Hina, for the 31st time in the past half hour. She knew there must be a way to mute Hina’s messages, at least for the time being, but Chisato was not well-versed in technology and she was currently in such a lazy mood that she couldn’t be bothered to look up how to do it. Such effort was becoming more tempting though with each passing minute, marked by another of Hina’s messages. She finally put down her book and reached for her phone.
Hina: im bored
Hina: so boooooooored…
Hina: why isn’t anybody here
Hina: this isn’t rururun
Wasn’t Hina supposed to be the genius with an impeccable memory? Eve had a photoshoot this afternoon, Maya was performing routine maintenance on the instruments and would be in the studio all day (probably also squishing herself into tight spaces between the equipment and the walls…it was best to leave her be. Chisato didn’t want to question their drummer’s life choices), and Aya was finally playing the little bit part she had bragged about for the past week. Who else but Chisato would be here to answer Hina’s texts?
Chisato sighed. So, this was how it was going to be. Better get this over with now so she could return to her idle idol life.
Chisato: Why don’t you spend some time with your sister?
Chisato sold out her schoolmate in a heartbeat. Sorry, Sayo-chan, it is your own fault for not having disciplined your unruly sister. Rest in peace.
Hina: but onee-chan is hanging out with yukina-chan in her room
Hina: she threw me out when i tried to join them
Hina: uwuuuu onee-chan is so vain
Hina: the moment she sees a pretty girl she runs off and leaves me behind
Hina: stupid onee-chan
Chisato was pretty sure “vain” wasn’t the right word to describe the Roselia guitarist whose face would look constipated over students wearing clip-on earrings. And if she were nearly as lustful as Hina made her to be, she would adopt Kaoru’s persona and build a harem of little kittens for herself. Aside that boring personality of hers, she did have the appearances and talents to attract a swathe of pretty but hopelessly gullible fangirls – Chisato would give her that much.
While Chisato was musing about her schoolmate, Hina produced more texts.
Hina: you know what
Hina: im gonna watch what onee-chan is doing from the hidden camera i installed
Hina: do you wanna watch too
Chisato looked around her living room, trying to see whether Hina had left hidden cameras in her house too. No, this wouldn’t do. She should call a specialist to give the house a thorough sweep at the earliest date available.
Chisato: I think installing a hidden camera in somebody else’s property is a violation of the law?
Hina: eh? is it?
Hina: but its my house too so its not really somebody elses property right
Chisato wondered if she should call the police. Then again, Sayo probably wouldn’t want her sister to go to jail over this. She rubbed her temples.
Chisato: You shouldn’t do it again.
Hina: okey
Hina: ah
Hina: but ive gotta watch this
The way Hina applied logic so selectively was something Chisato would never get over with. Granted, Chisato herself was more than happy to twist a few words to get where she needed to be, but there must be a line drawn somewhere, and she got the impression that line did not exist in the convoluted space-time fabric of Hikawa Hina’s galaxy brain.
Chisato: Hina-chan, you cannot make an exception for your own entertainment.
Hina: nonono
Hina: im doing this for onee-chan
Chisato quirked an eyebrow.
Chisato: I do not understand how that can be possible.
Hina: its sorta a long story
Hina: but like onee-chan bought some perfume the other day
Perfume!? Hikawa Sayo, the very illustration of “stick up her butt”, wearing perfume? Chisato would not admit that she was curious.
Chisato: I cannot quite imagine Sayo-chan wearing perfume. Is this for a special occasion?
Hina: apparently its for yukina-chan
Hina: i just found out now
Hina: here ill show you
And so Chisato became an unwitting accomplice to Hina’s intrusion of her sister’s privacy when Hina sent her a livestream from the hidden camera. Sayo was seated with her band vocalist, Yukina, at a low table, the perfume in question sitting atop it in a mess of wrapping paper that was probably ripped by the recipient of the gift. Sayo was in the middle of a droning explanation.
“…so Imai-san said that this could be good for helping with concentration. Of course, I am not saying that Minato-san cannot concentrate! It is just that you work so hard on our compositions and there is so little we can do to help you, so I thought it would be appropriate for me to give you a token of my appreciation, and hopefully this would also be useful to you even in a minute way. The scent is very subtle. I tried to keep in mind Minato-san’s modest preferences. And I thought the lavender hue matches well with Minato-san…I…I do not mean this in a shallow way of no substance! …What…What am I even saying?”
“I like it.”
Yukina was smiling. Chisato saw it as a smirk, because, well, she herself was definitely smirking as she watched her school’s stone-cold disciplinary committee chair turn into a nonsensical stuttering ripe tomato. She really shouldn’t be watching this, but it was far too entertaining to ignore. She convinced herself that she would just watch a little more, stopping at the point when and if things got more private. Thank goodness Hina wasn’t taking any bets. Chisato would wager pretty heavily on the possibility that this would get intimate before Yukina’s visit ended – it hinged only on a matter of when these two cowards would confess their sappy undying love for each other.
Hina: omg yukina-chan just put on the perfume
That she did. Chisato didn’t understand what was so “oh my god” about the action. Unless…
Chisato: What did you do this time, Hina-chan?
Hina: i didnt do anything
Hina: not on purpose
Whether or not it was on purpose was completely irrelevant, right? At least that was what Chisato’s cynical mind thought. She wasn’t going to point it out to Hina though – that would be a waste of breath, or in the case of a LINE chat, a waste of typing.
Chisato: Did you somehow get the perfume mixed up with a topical love potion or whatever you were making that happened to look and smell exactly the same as your sister’s gift?
Chisato almost wanted to add that they would look and smell the same because Hina was obsessed with having and doing the same things as her identical twin sister. As though sharing the same face was not bad enough they had to dress in the same clothes. Chisato was glad her own sister was by far more reasonable.
Hina: how did you know
Hina: chisato-chan is a genius! thats so rurururun
Hina: except the love potion part though
Hina: i guess chisato-chan still isnt smart enough
Hina: why would i make a love potion
Hina: boring
Hina: im so bababamba amazing i dont need people to love me
Chisato didn’t know where to start rebuking. She chose not to – too much wasted effort.
Chisato: If it isn’t a love potion then what is it?
Hina: hmm
Hina: how to explain so even chisato-chan can understand
Hina: a liquor of truth?
Hina probably didn’t need to be reminded that they were underage because she probably didn’t care either way. Chisato must say that a magic truth-telling potion would be rather useful for many purposes – so long as it wasn’t used on herself.
Chisato: I suppose this is better than a love potion, but still, you should probably tell Sayo-chan and Yukina-chan the truth now.
Hina: eeeeeeeh
Hina: but onee-chan would kill me
Hina: besides i dont know if she really mixed it up
Hina: just a possibility because i realized my truth potion is missing from its place on onee-chans desk
Chisato reread Hina’s last message, but even squinting didn’t change the words.
Chisato: And why would you have left it on Sayo-chan’s desk?
Hina: because mine was so messy i couldnt make my potion
Hina: so i used onee-chans
Hina: not my fault that onee-chan mightve mixed up my potion with her gift
Hina: she shouldve given it to yukina-chan earlier
That was some roundabout deflection of her own responsibility. As expected of a mad genius. But in that case, Chisato could understand why Hina would want to observe the situation to see what happened. Maybe there really wasn’t a mix-up and they were just overthinking it. A small part of Chisato wished otherwise though. Was the blunt Roselia vocalist really as honest as she appeared? Chisato would think not.
For the time though, Yukina was acting quite normally. She was praising her guitarist. “…I am thankful for your consideration. I do not think you are little help. Between keeping the books and helping me with the musical arrangement, you do a lot for me, for us.” She reached forward to take Sayo’s hand, sending the latter into a heat stroke. “And, just being by your side gives me the motivation to carry on forward. Thank you, Sayo.”
“I…well…that’s…umm…just…like…what is to be expected. I didn’t do anything…special…or anything…”
“I think this is special enough,” Yukina said, gesturing to the perfume. “Here, let me give you something in return.”
Yukina edged closer to Sayo. Chisato had a bad (or perhaps “amused” would be a more accurate description?) feeling about this. Sayo turned stiff as a rock when Yukina leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, neither bringing herself closer nor backing away.
Hina: did yukina-chan just kiss my onee-chan
Hina: hahahaha look at onee-chans expression
Hina: so dumb
Hina: this is so rurururun
Chisato might’ve snorted at Hina’s brutal commentary, not that anyone but Leon would bear witness to this rare display of her soot black heart. Her book was completely abandoned now, her eyes glued to her phone. This was better than the soaps she performed in, if she must say so herself.
“Mi…Minato-san!?” Sayo’s voice could be heard stammering through the audio feed. Yukina kept smiling.
“Hmm? Did you not like my gift?”
“I…that’s not…but…I don’t under…stand?”
This incoherent Sayo was too precious. Luckily Chisato wasn’t Yukina, else she would have a field day with this. But Yukina was nicer than Chisato – as hard as that was to believe for the innocent bystander. In fact, Yukina looked a bit abashed herself. She was trying hard to not appear so, her movements calculated, but so much so that Chisato’s trained eye could see right through the disguise.
“I have been thinking about this a lot lately,” Yukina said slowly, each word pronounced with a somewhat unnatural care. “I know I appreciate you, Sayo, but the depth of that appreciation and its meaning were unclear to me. I came to realize that this appreciation is not one so platonic. I think of you as I write our songs, not just for the sound you produce, but for the feelings you bring to me. I want you closer. I want to hold you, not in a metaphorical, musical way, but to physically hold you – to be together with you…”
Yukina paused when Sayo remained speechless. She started to look less sure of herself, slumping a little while putting some distance between Sayo and herself. She finally continued.
“I know these feelings are unbecoming of me as I was the one to say we should not bring our personal matters into the band, but if I keep these thoughts to myself any longer, I fear it would make a worse impact on our performance. I do not ask anything from this confession. It may be selfish of me to tell you all this and say that your response is unnecessary. I…” Here, Yukina visibly struggled, as though her script had run short. That was right, it became obvious to Chisato that Yukina had been reciting a prepared speech. Had she been planning this confession for a while but just never found the chance to say it? Was it possible that even the self-centered and proud Minato Yukina needed courage to speak her true mind at times? Well, given how poor she was at expressing herself without inducing the likes of Mitake Ran to punch her, Chisato could sympathize with Yukina’s need for a script to read off. Poor Yukina might have gone off-script and tried a little too hard on those last few lines though, and now she was desperately attempting to explain herself.
“Minato-san, I love you too.” Sayo cut Yukina off, sparing her awkwardness.
“Eh?”
Chisato rolled her eyes. Oh, Yukina-chan the Sweet Summer Child, your crush just said she returns your feelings. Just kiss her already! On the lips this time!
“…Don’t make me say that again. It is…well…embarrassing.” And just as quickly as Sayo’s flash of dominance appeared, it faded away to her usual obedient puppy self; Sayo fidgeted in her seat and her face turned red again. Chisato was almost ready to praise her too. How disappointing.
Hina: uh oh
Hina: they are kissing for real this time
Hina: thats aggressive yukina-chan
Hina: ive always thought shed be a bottom but guess my onee-chan is getting topped lol
Thankfully, Yukina regained her confidence quickly enough and was now kissing Sayo on the lips as Chisato had cheered for earlier. It was quite a kiss too, hard and passionate, maybe a little messy but seeing as this might be their first time Chisato was willing to refrain from further criticism. Ah, that was her tongue, right? Chisato couldn’t be a hundred percent certain given the poor quality of the video, but Sayo made a stifled moan so that was a good sign Yukina was doing the right thing. An 8 out of 10 was Chisato’s verdict. Good job, Yukina-chan.
Hina: hey does that mean my truth potion works?
Hina: ah
Hina: i should probably stop them then
Chisato typed a hurried “Wait!” but it didn’t seem to have gotten through, as a short moment later a really loud click sounded from the video – probably Hina destroying Sayo’s bedroom door lock because she learned how to do that at age three instead of learning how to knock. A second later, Hina appeared on the video, shouting “Stop!” at the top of her lungs. She really didn’t need to, because Sayo and Yukina had already quite literally bounced away from each other the moment Hina barged in.
“What the hell are you doing, Hina!? Didn’t I tell you not to come in!?”
“No, Onee-chan, I’m preventing you from committing a crime!”
“A what?”
“You can’t take advantage of Yukina-chan when she is intoxicated!”
Oh dear. Chisato almost wanted to smack her own face into her free palm, the one not rubbing Leon’s head right now. Wasn’t it obvious that Yukina had planned her confession from the very beginning? Read the damn mood, Hina-chan!
“Ah, what’s that basket over there?” As usual, Hina’s attention span lasted seconds. “…‘Hina’s misplaced junk’. Is that my potion in there?”
Sayo’s response was quick and furious, an alarm clock thrown in Hina’s direction which the latter did dodge very barely, but it hit the hidden camera instead, probably shattering it to pieces. Before the audio sizzled out, Chisato heard Sayo’s angry “I don’t care! Get out!”
Well, that had been a good show, albeit a questionable one. Chisato wished for Hina’s survival of Sayo’s upcoming torture – or maybe not, as it would be better if Hina were silenced forever so Chisato’s involvement remained under wraps. Now where was she in that book again? It wouldn’t be quite as entertaining, but she was now guaranteed some peace and quiet for the rest of the afternoon.