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‘I’ve gotten an email from Shiori’ says the memo Sakuma was just handed. ‘She’s coming back on her school break’.
Sakuma’s face lights up with joy. “Big sis is coming back!” She passes the note to Mochizuki just so he can confirm it for himself.
Mochizuki reads over the memo, then grins. “Well, I’m not surprised. There won’t be any arguments about where she’s staying this time, right, Suga?” he asks.
“No arguments,” Suga says, his face a tinge red. His voice shakes, and it’s impossible to tell how much is from embarrassment or simply from not being used to speech.
Since Shiori left, Suga has been using his voice only a little. The way it breaks without warning makes him too shy to use it in front of anyone but Sakuma and Mochizuki, and even with then, if there’s anything complicated or important to convey he does it with a memo to make sure the message gets across clearly.
It’s like puberty again, Sakuma thinks, only he has more of an excuse to be antisocial than most boys.
“Do you need any help cleaning up for her?” she asks. It’s rare to actually offer her help willingly, but this is for Shiori. The museum looking less than impeccable when she arrives is unacceptable.
“No,” he says. And then, after a small hesitation, “Thank you.”
She catches that pause but doesn’t comment. “I’ll do an inspection to make sure everything’s up to task, when you’re done cleaning.”
“Fine,” he says. He’s smiling. He smiles much more nowadays.
When Sakuma starts her inspection, she has to admit, she’s impressed. Suga is normally incredibly organized, even sorting his trash, but now that he knows Shiori is coming he’s cleaned the whole place until there’s nothing she can spot to complain about. The floors are so shiny you can see your face in them, every book in the museum is in order, and it no longer gives off the impression that nobody ever comes here.
Nobody comes here, of course. The reputation of the manager and the museum hasn’t changed that quickly. But it doesn’t look that way.
She hasn’t seen the manager at all through her inspection, and the last rooms to check are the bathroom, kitchen, and inner garden. When she goes to open the door from the lobby, she pauses: his voice can be heard from inside, muffled. Quietly, she opens the door just enough to peek inside.
Suga is looking at himself in the mirror, and speaking, repeating lines over and over. His voice is still rough, but not creaking. “Welcome back. ...Welcome back. Welcome back.”
Sakuma smiles, holding in any laughter.
“Welcome back.” Suga seems satisfied with his delivery of that line, as he moves on. “...I love you, I love you, I love-”
“I knew it!” Sakuma throws the door open, and Suga squeaks and throws himself against the wall, facing her. “You’re the most obvious man in love I’ve ever met.” Not that she’s met many, in middle school.
Suga glares. He is normally very talented at glaring, but with his face bright red and with what just happened, Sakuma just snorts at his attempt at intimidation.
“Don’t worry so much. Even if your voice cracks when you tell her, I’m sure big sis will return your feelings.” Sakuma giggles as Suga hides his face in his hands. “I was going to tell you that I’ve inspected your museum and found it flawlessly cleaned up, but maybe I’ll let you get back to practicing instead.”
Sakuma leaves him be after that. It would be no good to Shiori if the one she loved died of embarrassment, at least before she even arrived.
Afterwards is fair game.