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Click!
The line went dead in Shiho’s hands, and with that, Shiho released a heavy sigh. Again, Shizuku had been able to take some time off from her busy schedule, a fact she would always be grateful for as she couldn’t imagine the toll that Shizuku’s work was taking on her.
Shiho did wish that Shizuku gave her more advance warning than a day before she decided to fly out to the United States, leaving Shiho scrambling to pick her up from whatever fancy hotel her agents delivered her to.
Not only that, Shizuku had suddenly thrown an axe into her plans to meet up with Honami, and even though Shizuku probably wouldn’t have done so had she known, her sister talked so quickly that it was completely impossible for her to get a word in edgewise.
She was really not looking forward to calling her girlfriend and canceling, but it would probably be best to get it over with as soon as possible.
Shiho dialed the familiar number, and it picked up almost instantly.
“Hello, Shiho?”
Shiho grimaced, though Honami could not see.
“My sister called. She says that she’s coming to visit.”
“Oh.” Honami responded, the line crackling as she spoke. There was a pause. “So…?”
“I can’t meet up with you next week. Shizuku’s going to be staying for a while, and I have to make sure that she doesn’t get kidnapped or something.”
She could almost hear the palpable disappointment in Honami’s next words.
“I see. Well, that’s alright. There’s always next time, right?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, Honami.”
She was about to hang up before there was a loud scuffling from the otherside of the line, and then a hurried, “Emu, give that back!”
Before long, Shiho’s ears were nearly blown off by a voice screeching through the receiver for the second time that day.
“SHIHO, DID YOU MAKE HONAMI SAD???”
Shiho was at a loss for words, which was just as well, because Emu kept on talking, despite Honami’s weak and muffled protests that she was fine.
“You had better fix it or you will die.” Emu continued once Shiho did not respond. She shuddered. The cheer in Emu’s voice, and the lack of explanation as to what that threat could be, made it all the more terrifying. Shiho nodded vigorously, before realizing that Emu could not see.
“Yes, I will, don’t worry-”
“Good!”
There were a few more seconds of silence, other than the faint noises of the phone being passed between hands, and then Honami spoke, sounding as shaken as Shiho felt.
“Sorry about that.” She heard a nervous laugh. “Emu can get protective sometimes.”
“It’s no problem. Hey… listen. I wouldn’t want to intrude, but… would you mind if I brought Shizuku over next week? I can still visit, I’d just have to bring my sister with me.”
“THAT WOULD BE NO PROBLEM!” Emu’s voice screeched before Honami had a chance to respond. “WE CAN JUST BUY HER ANOTHER APARTMENT!”
“Buy…?” Shiho echoed. “No, no, that won’t be necessary-”
Even if it was necessary to buy, or even rent an apartment rather than simply stay at a nearby hotel for a couple of days, she was fairly certain that Shizuku’s not small amount of wealth would permit her to do it herself. Yet Emu seemed insistent on doing so, having left the line to go do whatever she needed to do to complete her task.
“So… I guess you’ll be bringing Shizuku over to visit, then?”
“Yeah. Sorry for all the trouble.”
Honami giggled softly, and even through the low-quality phone audio that paled in comparison to hearing it in real life, the sound still made her heart skip a beat. She smiled to herself.
“No worries. I’m looking forward to you and your sister’s visit.”
A small pause.
“Love you!”
Before Shiho even got the chance to respond, the line went dead with another final-sounding click.
“Hey, Shiho!” Iori’s voice from the back squawked, and she groaned. “Stop making lovey-dovey faces at the phone and come help us move these cases!”
Shiho huffed, but put the phone down, unable to wipe the smile off her face. She really had it bad, didn’t she?
Although Honami had managed to (mostly) calm her habit of furiously cleaning the apartment every time Shiho visited, old habits did die hard, and she still found herself in a flurry of dusting and tidying up, a few minutes before Shiho and Shizuku were set to arrive.
She didn’t want Shizuku to think they lived in a pigsty, after all-! Despite the fact that the apartment was probably cleaner than some hospital rooms. And-
The doorbell rang, and she instantly dropped the rag she was holding, rushing to open the door.
“Hello, and welcome to our home-” Honami started, before she was greeted by a cringing Shiho. “Shiho? Are you alright?”
Shiho’s face was buried in her hand, and she soon saw why. As expected, Shizuku was there, but… there was a third figure, one with a crop of familiar, scruffy pink hair covering her head. Airi poked her head out from behind Shizuku, waving gently.
“I’m… sorry about the unexpected third guest.”
“H-hello.” Airi started, her accent heavy from inexperience with English, but she still sent Honami a kind smile. She then slipped into her more comfortable language. “I’m deeply sorry about the intrusion.”
“O-oh! It’s no problem, really.” Honami stuttered, although it was true, she hadn’t been expecting Airi, and she began to nervously wonder if the food that she had prepared (Emu had insisted on helping), was enough to feed all six of them, instead of just five. She heard Shizuku’s soft voice, and it took her a second to realize that not only had she failed to answer in Japanese, she hadn’t even noticed Airi’s slightly confused look. She bowed her head in embarrassment. “Please, come in.” She continued, making sure to use the right language.
Shizuku and Airi did, leaving just Shiho. She stepped outside of the apartment to get a brief moment of privacy with her before they both went in. Shiho turned to her.
“I’m so sorry, I really didn’t know that Airi would be coming. If you need us to go get some takeout, because I know that you were planning to cook for everyone, I can go cover that.”
Honami shook her head rapidly.
“No, no! It’s alright. I’m sure it’ll be fine.
Shiho gave her a lopsided grin, and she felt her heart flutter just a bit.
“If you say so. Come on. I need to make sure that my sister isn’t tormenting your roommate.”
Honami laughed softly.
“I’m sure, with how Emu can get, it might be the other way around.”
With that, they stepped into the house and into the living room, where Emu was excitedly talking up a storm, and Shizuku was happily engaging in the conversation as well. Meanwhile, Airi was quiet, a slightly overwhelmed expression on her face.
As soon as Honami and Shiho entered, Emu perked up.
“HONAMI!!! DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR SISTER-IN-LAW IS A SUPER WONDAHOY MOVIE STAR?” Emu screamed, starstruck by the presence of one of, supposedly, the most famous actresses in Japan. In America, her films tended to be not as popular, but Honami did know them from her- her ex- husband’s collection.
Shizuku chuckled softly, while Honami nearly choked on her breath as she processed Emu’s words, racing to catch up with the conversation.
“Shizuku isn’t my-”
“It’s always nice to meet fans from overseas.” Shizuku interrupted. She pulled out a pen from her purse. “Would you like an autograph, Emu?”
Emu bounced up and down, nodding vigorously. She scrambled for a scrap of paper, presenting it to Shizuku almost reverently as she did, and Shizuku signed the paper with a flourish and then handed it back to her.
“A-as I was saying, Shizuku is not my sister-in-law.” Honami mentioned, once she had finished choking on air.
“With how much Honami talks about Shiho, they might as well be married!” Emu said, having leaned over to speak in Shiho’s ear in what may have been an attempt at a whisper, but was much too loud to work as one.
“It’s good that you came, otherwise, I would have sent an assassin to your home!”
Honami chuckled awkwardly at the look on Shiho’s face. She could never tell if Emu was joking or not.
“I’m going to check on the food.” Honami mumbled, searching for an excuse to leave the conversation. Once she was acknowledged, she scurried into the kitchen and stood over the stove, checking on the process of the stew she was making.
She heard footsteps enter behind her, and whirled around, but it was just Airi, standing in the doorway.
“Come in?” Honami asked, not sure why Airi was waiting, but it seemed like all she had needed was permission. Airi stepped inside the room.
When Honami had visited Airi’s home, she had received the distinct impression that the kitchen was her domain, and now, she was trusting Airi to enter hers.
“Hey. How are you doing?” Airi asked.
“Oh, just working on the food. Lots of mouths to feed today.”
Airi laughed.
“I get that. Do you need help? I got the feeling that you weren’t expecting me.”
Honami shook her head.
“No, no. Don’t worry about it.”
“Alright.”
Airi glanced around the kitchen, and a strange wave of embarrassment hit her. When they had visited, Airi had provided Shiho with dishes that she enjoyed, but now, she couldn’t do the same for her visitors. She rushed to justify herself.
“Ah, well, you see, it’s difficult to find the proper ingredients for your dishes, and the recipes as well. Besides, I’m a little more used to Western cooking-”
“It’s no problem! I’m sure whatever you make will be great.” Airi reassured, and she stopped her hurried explanations. She bowed her head.
“Thank you.”
“So… how is it going with Shiho?” Airi asked, a glint in her eyes as she did.
“Oh, she’s just the most wonderful, the most beautiful, the most-” Honami paused to think; she did not have sufficiently glowing adjectives to continue to describe Shiho in Japanese. “She… she makes me happy.” She finished.
Airi’s grin was sharp enough to cut glass.
“Oh?”
“Ye-”
“Nice, nice. Maybe I might get another little sister after all. Okay, I have to make sure Shizuku doesn’t break anything. Nice talk.”
Airi swept out of the kitchen, leaving Honami standing there and blushing.
“Shii-chan! Now that we’re here at your girlfriend’s home, we finally have the chance to talk!”
Shiho bit back her response, being that Shizuku had talked her ear off during the whole car ride to the apartment building as she white-knuckled the steering wheel, trying not to snap back at Shizuku or tell her to shut up. She knew Shizuku was excited, it just got a little annoying when she was trying to focus on driving, but she couldn’t deprive her of sharing the stories that she had accumulated since they had last talked.
Thankfully, Airi had been quiet the entire time, although that didn’t quite mitigate the surprise she felt upon seeing her at all. How was she going to explain to Honami that she had picked up an unexpected extra guest? She assumed that Airi had been quiet because of the language barrier, both of them being at about the same level of “bad” in the other’s native tongue.
“Yeah.” Shiho responded instead. Airi had gone off somewhere, maybe to talk to Honami, leaving her alone with Shizuku and Honami’s excitable roommate… Emu, was it? Which was not a good combination for her sanity.
Upon hearing this, Emu stood up.
“OKAY! I’M GOING TO LEAVE YOU TWO TO YOUR PRIVATE TALK! BYE-BYE!”
With that, she ran off, leaving Shiho alone with Shizuku. Shizuku looked down at her, all smiles, but didn’t speak. She realized that Shizuku was expecting her to be the one to begin the conversation, but she had no idea how to start.
“So, Shizuku, how’s your… career?” Shiho cringed at herself, sounding more like a disinterested neighbor than Shizuku’s sister. Fortunately, Shizuku didn’t seem too bothered.
“Oh, same as usual. How about you?” Shizuku responded. Shiho was about to respond with something similarly lame, when Shizuku continued. “How is it going with your lover?”
Shiho nearly choked.
“Um- it’s- um- why do you ask?”
“I just want to see my beloved little sister happy with the one she loves.” As she said this, Shizuku tugged her into a hug, and she didn’t even have the strength to pull herself out of the embrace.
Shiho glanced toward the kitchen, which Airi had disappeared into some time ago, making sure that the door was closed. Hopefully, if she kept her voice down, Honami wouldn’t hear.
“Yeah, it’s going- fine.”
“Aw, how cute!” Shizuku cheered, and she realized she had forgotten to take into account the other variable of Shizuku’s volume. Shiho shushed her, and mercifully, Shizuku’s next words were quieter, though they weren’t any less damaging to Shiho’s mental health.
“Are you going to get married?”
“S-Shizuku, isn’t that a little fast?” Shiho protested.
Shizuku gazed at the band shining on her own ring finger.
“It’s up to you and her, isn’t it?”
“It’s not… it’s not official, Shizuku.”
“The Shii-chan I know would never let something like ‘not official by the standards of others’ stop her from doing something. So clearly there’s something else that’s bothering you.”
Shiho twisted her fingers together.
“Honami was… divorced, relatively recently. How can I be sure that she’s ready?”
“I think the only way you’ll know is if you ask, isn’t it? You talk to each other. Of course,” Shizuku giggled softly, “Airi didn’t tell me that she was planning to propose, but I could tell. And I was alright with it, but only after some time had passed.”
Shiho pondered Shizuku’s words.
“Shii-chan, are you perhaps worried that you may not be good enough for Honami?”
Shiho choked.
“Me? No, I’m fine. It’s not like she’s gorgeous and intelligent and everything and I just feel like I can’t compare, you know?”
Shizuku gave her a look, and she buried her face in her hands. Maybe she wasn’t as cool and as unaffected by all those things as she wanted to be.
The kitchen door swung open, and she stiffened, moving away from Shizuku and shutting her mouth, but it was just Airi.
“Airi-chan!” Shizuku squealed, lighting up immediately. Airi perked up as well, walking toward Shizuku and sinking into her waiting arms, letting Shizuku press kisses to her face. The sight of them, so comfortable with each other and their affection, made something in Shiho’s chest ache. She turned her head away.
She heard Shizuku whisper something to Airi, and Airi responded, before Shizuku turned to her.
“Airi-chan said that she didn’t feel too confident about proposing either, but… she just had to do it. She may not have been confident in herself, but what she was confident in was her love for me.” Shizuku cooed something quietly to Airi, causing the shorter woman to blush. She then turned to Shiho again. “So yes, you should talk about it to your girlfriend.”
Shiho released a deep sigh.
“If you think so.”
Shizuku offered her another smile.
“Even if she isn’t up to it, at least you asked, hm? I can tell that you really care for her, Shii-chan… you could only be making her life better.”
“Right.”
Later that night, after dinner and after Shizuku and Airi had retired to the apartment (that they now owned, or something, thanks to Emu), Honami laid in her bed, the room dark. She had invited Shiho to stay with her, but it remained to be seen whether or not Shiho would actually take her up on the offer.
She was beginning to resign herself to the idea of going to sleep by herself, when she heard the door creak open.
“Hey.” Shiho whispered. “Room for one more?”
“Always.”
The bed sank down ever so slightly with Shiho’s weight. She waited for Shiho to lie down, then, perhaps the darkness making her more bold, she reached for Shiho’s hand underneath the blanket.
Shiho’s palm was slightly damp as they made contact, but she found that she didn’t mind.
“Is there something on your mind, Shiho?” Honami murmured.
“Uh, I- um.”
“Take your time.”
When Shiho fell silent, their breaths the only sound in the air, Honami felt her eyes begin to droop. It had been quite a high-energy day, and perhaps she would go to sleep soon, but not before hearing what Shiho had to say.
“Honami… how would you feel about marriage?”
Honami felt her heart hammering in the darkness, the brief mention of it setting off a wave of memories that she had mixed, jumbled feelings about. She could almost feel the phantom presence of something wrapping around one of her fingers.
She heard a dry chuckle.
“I suppose you wouldn’t be ready for it.”
“N-no! That’s not it at all!” Honami shrieked, breaking the sleepy silence hanging over the room. “Shiho, I would- I want to get married, if it’s you.”
“Oh?” Shiho asked, her voice trembling ever so faintly. “Are you sure you’d be alright with it?”
“N-not now, you’re right. I couldn’t imagine right now. But someday… I would like to.”
Shiho exhaled a breath.
“Um, well, I can’t really promise you much. I’m just, well, I’m me, and it’s not even legal, really, and I can’t do much in the way of steady income or even a stable home, but I promise to give you all my love and more.”
Upon hearing Shiho’s words, Honami felt her heart flutter in her chest, though with an undercurrent of something that stopped her from leaping for joy as she might’ve done had she been a different person.
“Thank you, Shiho.” Honami said, trying to convey all of her emotion in the tone of her voice, unable to express herself. She reached for her, wrapping her arms around Shiho’s waist, feeling her stiffen. Then, another quiet, slightly amused exhale.
“Sleeping with your partner before marriage? How scandalous.”
“Oh, shush.” Honami whispered back. “You’re enjoying this and you know it.”
“Maybe.”
Honami laughed softly, burying her head in the crook of Shiho’s neck and inhaling, the familiar scent enveloping her in comfort. Maybe she could do with living like this for the rest of her life.