Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shinobu blinked her eyes for a moment, the light of her room was a familiar sight to see. She looked over her phone, it was 4:00 AM in the morning, the sun hadn't risen yet. She raised her head, a familiar pain in her neck as she went to stretch her back, popping it to let her sigh.

It was another day.

Shinobu moved to a part of her desk that had her phone charger and plugged her phone in. She needed it to be alive today. She blinked her eyes for a moment as they tried to remember what it was like being open and in her room again. The DJ spent the whole night trying to work on a song she was stuck on, everything she worked on she soon deleted because of how it sounded to her.

Shinobu was in a slump.

Her problem was lyrics, her skills with lyric-making were good, but none of the words seemed to struck a chord like someone else’s did.

Just the thought made her stomach churn.

The pink-haired shook her head, needing to get ready.

The DJ went to her bathroom, opening the lights to see herself in the mirror. She still looked the same. Her eyes were tired, her eye bags had not changed and her face shape and hair length was still akin to when she was younger. The only small difference was that Shinobu wore another hairpin to make sure her hair didn’t fall to her face while DJing.

Nothing felt different.

She did her usual routine. She brushed her teeth, splashed water on her face to wake up, placed her pin on a part of her hair and applied makeup to make it seem that her sleep schedule was normal.

Shinobu looked over at herself in the mirror again and she looked more normal now. She looked a little mature.

That seemed enough.

She closed the lights and walked back to her room. The clothes she chose without thought last night were sprawled on her bed as though she threw it and continued on with her work. Her choices were fine, a familiar pair of shorts and jacket were there and a nice shirt went with it. 

There was nothing Shinobu wanted to change about it. She started to put them on, almost finished until her phone pinged.

She looked over it to see a reminder of what she needed to do today.

She needed to go to a reunion.

Not just any reunion.

A high school reunion with all of her friends.

She didn't really know how to feel about it, but she was hoping to see all the familiar faces. They all drifted a little after they all graduated, some got closer, some grew apart. The DJ didn’t really take note, all she wanted to do was stay there for a little while and leave to continue working on her song.

It didn’t matter if there was something that would let her stay a little, as if that would happen.

She needed to be back at her desk writing and deleting a few lyrics, maybe sneak in a few games if she could.

She needed to rush to go where they were all going to meet.

The sun was slowly rising and Shinobu was used to the sight. It was a little cold to her liking, but it was her fault for not changing to a pair of pants rather than her shorts. It took her almost an hour to get out of her house, but she managed. She was standing outside a still closed Cafe Vinyl – it was too early for it to be opened – and kept on looking from one side to the other. Shinobu was the only one there.

The street was quiet, there was the sound of rustling leaves and barely any light.

Perhaps she should’ve stayed in a little longer, she would’ve been able to brainstorm a little.

“Hey!” She heard a voice call. “You’re here early!”

Shinobu looked up to see Noa and Towa. Their arms were linked up like pieces of a chain.

Huh.

“Hey, Noa, Towa.” Shinobu greeted, her hands wanting to be kept inside her pockets.

“Hey, Shinobu!” Towa had a smile and showed her a peace sign, it seemed that after college she still stayed consistent.

“It’s so weird you’re… really early, what happened to you?” Noa tried to joke, everything about those two seemed to be the same except for the matching rings on their fingers.

“College happened, I guess. I dunno.” Has Shinobu really changed? She just wanted to come early in case she was the late one, it was what usually happened when she met with her unit members.

“Heh, I guess some of us have changed after all…” Noa looked around the still dark streets, there were barely a few people. “Seems you changed as well.”

“I wouldn’t say that, it’s just… a basic adjustment to do in life sometimes.” The DJ answered with a shrug. “I’m still the same.”

“Oho, so you’re still gaming and stuff?” The blonde asked with that smirk of hers. Bastard.

“Yeah, I guess.” The DJ decided to change the subject. “What’s with the matching rings, you two?”

Such a question caused the both of them to turn bright red.

Jackpot.

“Ahahaha!” Towa laughed, far too loud for an early morning, but it was one that Shinobu enjoyed to hear greatly. “Wh– wha– what rings??”

“I’m pretty sure it’s something that’s kind of obvious, Towa…” Noa sighed, looking over the ring with a fond smile. “We’re… uh, fiances. I guess.”

Shinobu smiled softly. “Congrats.”

“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone, alright?!” Towa said with her finger wagging. “We wanna keep it secret until everyone else arrives, alright?”

“Got it, got it, jeez…” Shinobu looked around, there were no other familiar faces that appeared yet.

Soon, the cafe opened with a half-awake Ryujin running it alone. They felt sorry for the old man, but he told them it was alright. They occupied one of the booths to the side, Towa and Noa were on one side while Shinobu was opposite them. She didn't want to disturb those two.

The cafe was warmer than the outside, but with how empty it looked, it seemed to give off a cold atmosphere, perhaps it was the seats and the table, but Shinobu felt there was more to the feeling.

Time passed, they ordered a few drinks and snacks in the mean time, and soon came the first unit with the ring of the cafe door's bell. It was Rinku and all of Happy Around! together as a group, as soon as they noticed the other three, Rinku was the first to greet them while the other three ordered some drinks and food. They seemed to be the same as well.

“Is Happy Around! still a thing?” Towa asked once they settled in properly, taking a quick sip of her water. The music was a calming jazz, befitting for the start of the day.

“Of course! We’re currently thinking up a new album!” Rinku answered with a familiar bop to a hidden beat at the table close to the booth they were in. “It’s been going smoothly!”

“Rinku, we were supposed to keep that secret!” Muni nagged, causing the blonde to chuckle.

“Oh yeah! Sorry, Muni-chan…”

They continued the chatter with sweet jazz playing and a few sweets until Ibuki and Saki arrived. Saki ordered something first while Ibuki went to greet the others, everyone not noticing the matching rings Towa and Noa had yet.

“Oh yeah, how’s Photon?!” Rinku asked, eyeing the four members specifically. “Anything you guys are planning as a unit?”

“We’re pretty much just taking things easy, but we’re thinking of doing a live show to… liven up the fans after a while, you know?” Ibuki answered as the other three ate.

Rinku swallowed a few donuts of hers. “Ah, I get that!”

The cafe started to become lively with more customers that weren’t connected to their reunion as the music switched from jazz to some baroque era classical music. The buzz of words continued until the bell chimed and a certain quartet appeared, Lyrical Lily. They ordered politely before going toward the booth – Shinobu noticed that Haruna and Miyu were holding hands – having to occupy the opposite side of Happy Around!’s table.

“Aaah!!!” Noa yelled out as soon as she saw a certain duo – everyone else in the cafe turned their heads before turning away – she tried to get out of her seat but Towa dragged her back. “Kurumi-chan! Miiko-chan!!”

“Hey, Noa…” Both of them greeted half-heartedly, even after they graduated high school and college, Noa acted the same.

“You’d think she’d learn by now…” Ibuki muttered with a sigh.

Noa huffed at Ibuki. “Hey, I have!!”

“Yuhuh….” Almost everyone said, causing Noa to pout and huff.

“How’s DJing been for you four?” Rei asked instead, smiling at all of the members of Lyrical Lily. “We haven’t heard news of any of you doing any live shows.”

“Ah, about that…” Haruna cleared her throat. “We have been trying to do something about it.”

“Mhm, mhm!” Both Kurumi and Miiko nodded, their synchronization still intact.

“Our problem is that we can’t find any other acts to perform with us…” Miyu sighed, causing Haruna to grip her hand.

“Ooh, I know! How about we merge the Photon Maiden revival live with yours?” Towa suggested, eyes shining bright.

“Oh! That would be wonderful!” Miyu exclaimed before she took a sip of some tea.

Rinku slammed the table, surprising her unit members. “Yeah! Then Happy Around! can perform with you guys too so we can announce our upcoming album!”

“Yeah!”

They all talked about this joint live again, conversations seemed to mix as Shinobu stayed by herself with a cold soda. She didn’t know if her own members were arriving.

It was fine if they didn’t.

The details of the live show grew and everyone in the group seemed to notice how lonely Shinobu looked by her side of the booth, so they all tried to make sure they kept her in conversations as much as possible.

“Oh, yeah, how are you guys?” Rinku asked again, this time for Shinobu, curious how everyone was doing.

The DJ raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

Rinku grinned. “You know! You and Peaky P-key! I’m wondering if we could add you guys to the live show!”

“Ah…” Shinobu didn’t really know how to answer. It was a question she thought she would avoid. “Just… uh.” She glanced outside, they weren’t there yet. “They’re… fine, I guess. I dunno.” She shrugged.

“What do you mean by ‘they’re fine’? Anything specific?” Miyu asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“They’re– they’re just fine .” Shinobu’s tone was close to how sharp it was when she was younger. She didn’t want to see them.

“Wait… did you…?” Muni didn’t finish her sentence. Everyone had an idea of what she was going to say.

Shinobu let the silence fill until she sighed. “No, we… we just stopped doing Peaky performances because of college but… uh, we’ve been so busy with each of our own stuff that we just kinda stopped talking.”

Everyone made silence continue.

Shinobu knew it was out of uncomfortableness.

“Maybe– maybe I should go.” Shinobu said as she stood up.

“What? But the reunion barely started!” Rinku, Noa, and Miiko all yelled.

“Uh, well, it looks like none of… Peaky is going to be here, so I’ll just… go.” Shinobu’s stomach felt like it wanted all of her insides to be spit out. She wanted to work on her song, she didn’t want to meet them now.

Ibuki exhaled. “Trust and believe in them, Esora-san told me that she was coming.”

Great, Esora’s coming.

It sounded as though Ibuki had another meaning to her words.

But Shinobu wanted to leave now.

The cafe door’s bell chimed, making everyone turn their heads to see who it was.

Two familiar looking women walked inside. One of them had long green hair that shined under the light, her eyes framed by rounded square glasses. The other had blonde hair that reached near her shoulders and a camera dangled around her neck.

“Shinobu!” They both yell in reply, causing the DJ to shrink into herself. Great.

The both of them went up to her, sitting right beside Shinobu with smiles.

“Yuka-chan! Esora-chan! Both of you look different!” Rinku exclaimed.

Esora smiled, Shinobu noticed she was holding Yuka’s hand tight. “Aha, we really didn’t… just a little style change here and there but that’s it, really~”

Yuka smiled as she moved her camera to rest on the table. “Mhm!”

“What have you two been doing?” Ibuki asked.

“Ah, I’ve been taking care of the Shimizu Group now~” Esora replied.

“I’ve been doing some photography work!” Yuka answered as she pointed to her camera. “Mostly assisting, but I’ve been able to do some galleries from time to time!”

“With my help, of course~” Esora added, causing some to raise a few eyebrows.

“Mm, that’s nice!” Towa smiled, trying to hide the fact she raised an eyebrow. “Nice to know!”

“So, you need proper glasses now, Esora?” Shinobu chided as she pointed to said glasses, she couldn’t stop the comment from escaping her lips. The words felt right to say.

Esora looked at her for a moment before sighing. “Yes.”

Shinobu grinned. “Hah!”

“Says the one with makeup hiding those eyebags of yours.” The green-haired muttered as she took a sip of some tea.

It struck a nerve with Shinobu. She missed that. “ What .”

“You really think I wouldn’t notice?” Esora glanced at her with a smirk.

“And you’re a little…” Shinobu bit down her words and snarled instead, causing some heads to turn to them.

“Ahh!! Yuka, help me~” Esora held onto the blonde, causing her cheeks to turn a light pink.

“Now, now you two! It’s too early to be doing this…” Yuka said with a smile, trying to calm them before a few heads get ripped.

“Do any of you know when Kyoko-san is coming?” Haruna asked to distract them from their anger. “She didn’t tell any of us other than that she might come.”

Esora, Yuka and Shinobu paused to look at the maroon-haired DJ. All of Shinobu and Esora’s annoyance with each other disappeared at the question. They turned to look at the table, their hands or the ceiling; eyes not meeting any of theirs.

“Um…”

“Well…”

“That’s…”

There was no answer to that question. None of them have it. Everyone waited for an answer, but either of those three didn’t want to answer.

Shinobu gripped her arm under the table. “I don’t–”

The cafe’s bell chimed, stopping Shinobu from speaking.

“I’m here! Sorry I’m late!”

Everyone turned to who that was.

Shinobu knew that voice somewhat.

It wasn’t any voice.

The DJ looked up at where the voice came from and the cafe around the DJ seemed to twist and turn into something unfamiliar.

She wore a jacket that kept her warm from the cold winds and a pair of ripped jeans, her shoes were a pair of hightops and her wrists had a few bracelets. Her hair was short – resting exactly on her shoulders – and brown while the tips seemed to be dyed a dark red.

The part about this woman that made Shinobu feel odd was the fact that she had a few gold ear piercings as well as a hat.

She knew this woman.

“Kyoko!” Everyone exclaimed her name in some way, Rinku, Esora and Yuka stood up and went to hug the brunette while Shinobu stayed frozen.

“Sorry, I missed the first bus so I was kinda late…” She laughed. The laugh sounded different. It made Shinobu feel weird.

An odd feeling in her stomach started to twist and form.

“Kyoko-chan’s here! Now we can catch up properly!” Rinku cheered.

“Ah, looks like I was the last one, sorry for making all of you wait…” Kyoko laughed, her smile was the same. That was good.

“It’s alright, Kyoko-chan! You can sit over there!” Rinku pointed to where Shinobu was, almost making the poor DJ choke.

When her eyes landed on Shinobu’s, her smile disappeared.

“Sure!” The smile returned but her tone sounded different, even if it had been a while since Shinobu heard her voice, she could still tell.

When Kyoko sat beside Shinobu her soda felt warmer. The water vapor dampened the DJ’s fingers.

She should’ve left earlier.

The conversations continued, everyone talked with each other until the air buzzed with voices except for two.

Kyoko was busy taking sips of her water while Shinobu took sips of her warm soda.

They didn’t know what to say.

“Oh, Kyoko-san!” Maho spoke, cutting the muteness of the singer.

“Hm?”

“Have you been singing?” The question made Kyoko raise an eyebrow. “Ah! Um, what I mean is are you… uh, a solo artist now?”

Kyoko laughed, shaking her head. “Nope, I’m just taking a break from music stuff,” Shinobu’s heart returned to a normal tempo, “for now, I’ve been going to places!”

That caught everyone’s ears, but not Yuka, Esora and Shinobu. They were used to hearing that.

It was nice to hear another part of her that was the same.

“Where are you going now? Another country?” Esora asked, smirking as she did.

“Yeah, actually! In a few weeks, I’m going overseas again.” She took a sip of water while everyone ooh-ed and Shinobu dented her soda can.

She’s leaving again .

Towa’s eyes shone with curiosity. “Which one is it?”

“America!?” Rinku guessed first with a large smile.

Miyu raised one eyebrow. “France?”

Noa snapped her fingers as though she were a detective. “UK?!”

“S… Spain?” Yuka shrugged, unsure of her own guess.

Kyoko laughed at all of their guesses. “None of those!” Everyone sighed, causing Ryujin to change the music from classical to some familiar R&B. “I’m going to my father’s home country."

“Ahhh…” Everyone nodded, humming a few times as well.

“I always wanted to visit, so I think it’s high time I go there.” Kyoko set the cup down, letting Shinobu notice the little water vapors forming on the glass.

“That’s nice!”

Everyone nodded, causing Kyoko to chuckle lightly.

“How long will you be visiting?” Miiko asked.

Kyoko hummed for a moment. “Ah, I think… about a week, not too long, not too short, you know?”

“Yeah, Miiko thinks that’s a good amount of days to visit!”

“So… um, will all of you be able to perform?” Haruna asked, her hand seemed to let go of Miyu’s so she could fiddle with it. “As Peaky P-key, I mean.”

“Maybe, that will depend on when the live is happening, when is it?” Kyoko folded her hands together, resting her chin on them.

“Ah, I suppose around the middle of May?” Haruna suggested. “April is close to ending, so I suppose it would be better for it to be in the middle of May.”

Kyoko hummed before nodding. “We’ll get an answer by then, I’m pretty sure all of us have been busy with other stuff at the moment, maybe once some of our workload is lighter, we can join.”

“Sorry for not being able to answer, Haruna-san.” Esora said with a sigh. “But yes, Kyoko is right, I’m quite busy with the Shimizu Group’s business at the moment to give a concrete answer.”

Yuka scratched the back of her neck. “Me too, I’ve been busy with assistant work and helping out at my parent’s gym still, but I’m sure I’ll be able to give an answer soon!”

“Me too.” Shinobu said, causing all of their eyes to go toward her. “I’m… busy with a project of my own.”

“Oh? What’s the project?” Kyoko asked, curious what her DJ has been working on.

“Just… something, I guess.” She didn’t want to answer it. Especially because of how personal it is. “I’m a bit stuck on it, but I’m almost done, I think I don’t need any help.” The last part was a big lie, it’s starting to take her a week for her to decide on what the lyrics should even be about.

“Ah, okay.” Kyoko’s eyes looked hurt when Shinobu said the last part. Did she know?

“How about we change this subject to another one?” Rei suggested, eyes seeming to shine with mischief. Shinobu was glad she wanted it to change now.

“To what, Rei?” Rinku asked with her head tilted to the side.

The keyboardist cleared her throat. “Why don’t we talk about how Towa-san and Noa-san have matching rings?”

“Ohh yeah I’ve been wondering that too!” Ibuki exclaimed, now glad that she was sitting right beside the couple. “What’s going on, you two?”

Towa and Noa were bright red, with Towa being the brightest.

“Um…” Noa cleared her throat after she noticed Towa was very mute at the moment. “We’re… uhh, fiances… I suppose.”

As soon as the words left Noa’s mouth, everyone cheered. Even Shinobu, who knew first out of everyone. She looked to the side, instinctively, to look at Kyoko.

Her breathing paused when her eyes met hers.

She hadn’t seen them so close in forever.

So she looked away, opting to drink an empty can as everyone laughed at an excuse Towa tried to make.

She noticed at the corner of her eye that Kyoko started to fiddle with the tips of her hair.

They talked, laughed, drank and ate as much food as they wanted. Reunions like that were almost impossible to be done again. Everyone said their goodbyes, promising to meet when they all had time, perhaps next time they could invite RONDO and Merm4id along with Unichord and Abyssmare.

People were moving and the cars went from one place to another as afternoon winds swept by, not making the DJ's cold hands any better.

Shinobu managed to catch up with everyone, learning everything that had happened ever since graduating from Yoba. Ibuki gained a driver’s license after apparently three tries because of her terrible sense of direction while Saki gained hers after one, said DJ also managed to produce a song for a famous band she had forgotten the name of (Saki did note that the singer sounded close to Photon’s past producer), Miyu and Haruna were finally together after a painful amount of pining thanks to a certain duo (Kurumi and Miiko) and two underclassmen and are now close to their first anniversary, Esora was a regular goer to Yuka’s galleries to the point that other regulars call her an ‘admirer’ of Yuka’s work (that piece of information made Shinobu snort), and then Happy Around! were still with each other because their relationship was just that strong, still dating even after both high school and college.

It felt a little nice to know what had been going on with their lives.

Shinobu remembered how Kyoko looked, her dyed hair and her piercings made her look mature. It was like she was a whole new person, yet she was still the same Kyoko she knew. The DJ thought it was a little odd Kyoko was practically throwing herself at every part of the world, but it could just be something she wanted to do after college.

It was her fault for not speaking.

Esora and Yuka kept in contact with her a little, did it count if they messaged each other and responded weeks later? Probably. Shinobu thought it was better than what she and others had with Kyoko.

She brushed the thoughts away, she just wanted to go home, even though she had a few things to think over.

They were practically disbanded, all of them hanging by mere pathetic threads.

It was something they needed to clear up so that the other units didn’t need to worry about making any adjustments for them in the live only for them to say they weren’t joining.

It would’ve been terrible.

She didn’t see where Kyoko, Esora and Yuka were going, but Shinobu hoped they weren’t going the same direction as her.

After a few more minutes, she reached home. Her familiar, bland home. It was alright, there was nothing wrong with the space, it was clean and there wasn’t a spec of dirt, but it felt empty. She and her grandfather lived there together, yet it still looked lifeless.

There was no spark of life.

But, did it count if Hanzo ran up to her every day?

If it was, then the house was just fine.

“Hey, buddy.” She patted the dog's head as soon as he was close. “How was your nap?”

“Woof!” He barked, letting Shinobu scratch his head.

“I’m gonna check on grandpa, wanna come?”

“Woof!” The dog started to go up stairs, leaving Shinobu alone on the first floor.

She sighed, taking off her shoes and going up to her grandfather’s room. She needed to check on him every day, making sure he was alive.

One of the reasons she even goes in the house rather than the warehouse anymore.

She went close to the room Hanzo was standing in front of, her grandfather’s, and knocked on the door, not opening it. “Grandpa, can I come in?”

There was a pause before he answered. “Come in.”

Shinobu went inside with Hanzo, seeing the familiar room. There was his collection of records and his many record players, one of them was playing a disc. The song was an R&B song Shinobu just heard at Vinyl.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, noticing how tired he looked. Maybe his age is catching up.

“Fine, I’m not dying at least.” He joked before drinking from a glass of water. Her grandfather fell ill ever since last week, not wanting this house of three to be a house of two, Shinobu started watching her grandfather’s health. Hell, she even asked her sister and cousins for a few tips on how to deal with sickness.

“That’s good.” Shinobu went to refill his glass, the water lukewarm. “Are you able to walk?”

“Like I said, I’m not dying, Shinobu.” Her grandfather huffed as he went to scratch Hanzo’s head. “I can walk, I’m not paralyzed, I made myself some lunch a while ago.”

“Nice, good to know.” Shinobu looked at him, he didn’t look any different, a little older, yes, but that was all. He still looked healthy even with how tired he looked, which calmed her heart a little.

He sighed, noticing how Shinobu studied his face for any sign of illness. “You don’t need to watch me like a hawk, I’m fine. So what if I got sick? It’s okay for me to get sick, Shinobu.”

“I get it.” Shinobu knew that. She had nothing to worry about, but she’s still worried about it.

“How was that reunion of yours?” He asked as Shinobu went and threw away the empty container of her grandfather’s medicine, she needed to buy some later.

“It… was fine.” She decided to answer with, eyes not meeting her grandfather’s.

“Did you meet your old unit members?” He asked, the words spoken delicately, one misspoke and Shinobu’s mood could be affected greatly.

“Yeah, they were there.” She felt Hanzo rub up against her leg, instinctively going to pet him. “They already moved on, I think.”

“Are you sure?”

Shinobu looked at the floor, not wanting to be in contact with any eyesight. “Yeah.”

She knew her grandfather had an eyebrow raised. “Is that what you think?”

The DJ hesitated answering, going toward the door. “Just rest already.”

He chuckled. “Avoiding the question?”

Shinobu sighed. “I’m not.”

The DJ knew there was a smile on her grandfather’s face. “That’s what you usually say when you’re avoiding a question.”

The pink-haired tried to form words, but decided to say something else. “Good night, sleep already, you old man.”

"It's actually still the afternoon, Shinobu."

Shinobu exhaled at the fact. "I hate you."

She shut the door behind her, making sure Hanzo didn’t get his tail stuck when he walked out as well. She was glad her grandfather was okay.

She sighed, looking over the dog beside her. “Are you in the mood for a walk?” Hanzo did not bark, a usual sign he did not want something. Shinobu was half glad he wasn't in the mood for a walk– she wasn’t either.

Shinobu walked to the warehouse – before that she made sure Hanzo had some food and water – and sighed. She could go back to working.

She sat down on her cold chair, turned on her computer, and the fan for the CPU started up making that familiar whirring sound.

She opened her software and started to play her song. It was just the instrumentals, nothing else. She took out a piece of paper and took out a pencil. Her hand started twirling it over and over, her ears trying to hear an emotion from the melody.

The song was… personal. Shinobu made it when she finished high school, her emotions were overwhelming at the time, she needed to release it in some way. The product of all of those emotions and thoughts were this song. The song was in the works for so long, the instrumentals were worked on over and over during those years until it reached the way it is now just a day ago.

She knew the topic the song should be about. She wanted it to be how much it hurts to be left behind because of how people move and change while one stays stagnant. How it messes with the mind, how people change and seem to move on from the pains of the past and onto the future with no hardships.

The topic is touched on multiple times, different views are given to how one person can react to it, but Shinobu didn’t care to give a different view. She just wanted to show how she felt.

What happened today made her realize that. Everyone seemed to almost stop DJing, but they all still seemed to stick together and still had the heart to perform together. Some of them got even closer rather than being ripped apart.

That didn’t happen with Peaky P-key.

Shinobu made her own setlists and did her own performances, but she never did it in front of anyone else after Yoba. Not even during college.

Was the song a type of call? A wish that would be sent out into the world to never be granted?

Maybe.

To be straightforward with her topic would be foolish, she knew this. So metaphors were what she needed to plan. The DJ didn’t know what could be good metaphors for someone being left behind as people change. She saw being left behind as it is, no beautiful words to hide how terrible and miserable it is.

She listened to the song on loop, feeling each and every emotion during those years as she tried to put them to words.

But none were put to paper.

She decided then to just give up, at least she had an idea on what it should be about now.

She paused the song before it reached the build up to the climax, not in the mood to hear it now. She closed the software and switched to playing games.

A few rounds to relax wouldn’t hurt.

Maybe more than a few.

Perhaps a couple hours.

Chapter Text

Shinobu went from her usual FPS to bullet hells, rhythm games, and now fighting games in a few hours. She didn’t keep track of the time unless it was the timer on games.

She was deep in the zone, eyes keeping track of every move her opponent online did, making sure to think fast and react quickly. If she didn’t, she would lose.

The timer ended with her health bar being longer than her opponent by a single pixel, causing her to exhale out of sheer excitement.

“Alright, I think that’s enough.” She sighed, leaving the lobby and closing the game. She felt more refreshed, there weren’t any new ideas for some lyrics, but she felt refreshed, which was enough.

She looked over the clock on her computer, noticing that it was already night time.

Huh.

Shinobu then felt a rush go through her body, she started to run to the house, slamming the door open, trying to force her shoes out until she managed to get them off and run toward the kitchen–

To see her grandfather cooking dinner with Hanzo already eating his food with refilled water.

Oh.

“Wh…” Her heart was beating, trying to catch up with her body. She couldn’t speak.

At the sound of her voice, her grandfather turned to her. “You finally got out of the warehouse, huh?”

“Wha…”

He turned back to the food, continuing to stir whatever was in the pot. “Sit down, you need to eat so you can work on your project, right?”

“Uh…. y-yeah.” Shinobu sat down at the chair she always sat on, trying to act as though her grandfather could not collapse at any minute.

Minutes pass of Shinobu being nervous of the sound of something being dropped and a loud clang sound or anything breaking, and a bowl of soup was placed in front of her.

Shinobu blinked for a moment. “What?”

Dennojo sat down at the place he usually sat. “Dinner, you’re here to eat, right?”

“Um, yeah.” Shinobu didn’t voice the fact that she came there because she was afraid something terrible happened to her grandfather.

“Then let’s eat.” He said before starting to eat. "Hurry up and eat it, don't want it to be that cold."

Shinobu looked at him eating, glad he wasn’t that sick anymore. “Let’s eat.”

The food was warm. Of course it was warm, soup being cold would be concerning, but there was another type of warmth that Shinobu felt in only little forms in her food because of how late she ate them. It felt warm, it felt nice. It felt familiar and filled her heart with something.

She blinked her eyes, noticing the fact that there were tears falling down.

Oh.

“Shinobu?” Her grandfather asked. His voice sounded clearer thanks to how empty the house was.

“I’m fine… I just… it’s too hot.” She said through the tears, hiding it behind her hands. “I… I burnt my tongue.”

He chuckled, knowing that it was a half-lie. “Does it taste good at least?”

Shinobu continued wiping away her tears. “Yeah, it– it tastes good, just hot.”

He smiled, continuing to eat. “That’s good.”

Shinobu hesitated, trying to control her tears at the moment. “Y-yeah.”

They continued to eat in silence – well, Dennojo – as Shinobu tried to stop her tears. Her eyes couldn’t help but water, the soup wasn’t even that hot.

Maybe it was a different kind of warmth that made her eyes water.

Soon, after dampening her jacket sleeve too much, she managed to stop crying and continued eating.

“You alright?” Her grandfather asked, his voice had a hint of worry even if he stayed silent and continued eating as Shinobu cried.

“Mhm.” Was her answer before she took a few sips.

The silence was a comfortable one, it was an atmosphere she was used to. She liked the way it seemed to fill the air with a silent type of song. If Shinobu had to decide, she might choose some of the songs that played in Vinyl today. She wouldn’t choose jazz – it reminded her of being outside – but more on classical and R&B. Maybe even Lofi.

“Staying up to make lyrics again?” Dennojo asked before he continued enjoying his meal.

“Um… yeah. I’ve, uh, been struggling with it.” She didn’t want to tell her grandfather what it was about.

“I see.” He took a long sip of his soup, making Shinobu think that was his final comment. “Perhaps getting a new point of view can help.”

Shinobu furrowed her eyebrows. “Are you telling me to find something new to do?”

Dennojo shook his head. “Maybe see? A change in atmosphere can help.”

“Are you just telling me to go outside and touch grass?”

Her grandfather stopped mid way from taking a sip to ask, “Am I?”

The DJ looked at his eyes for a moment before turning to her own food. “Tch.”

“Don’t give me that, you know more than I do that it’s true.”

Shinobu didn’t answer and continued to eat.

She knew her grandfather was right, even if she wanted to disagree.

Once their soup was finished, Shinobu washed the dishes and said her goodnights to her grandfather and Hanzo before returning to the warehouse.

When she went inside, she felt a little warmer than a while ago.

She walked toward her desk, the blank piece of paper taunting her lyrical abilities.

The pink-haired decided to write down her thoughts, maybe that will slowly help with lyric making. It was slow at first, unsure with what words to use, but as time went on, Shinobu started to become more confident, more sure on what to say. She wrote everything down, how she felt, how her mind told her probable lies.

All of that was written on the paper.

Minutes, maybe an hour, passed and Shinobu finished when the pencil’s lead broke, cutting her out of the zone she was in. The DJ looked over everything she had written, all the pain and heartache was there for her to see.

She finally took another step forward to finishing the lyrics.

All she needed to do was metaphor making and she was close to being done.

A few weeks passed and thanks to her grandfather recovering – she still watches him in case his sickness returned – Shinobu managed to make a few lines. Her lyrics were subpar, but if she finished there’s a chance she could adjust them in the future. The metaphor she chose was the seasons, an overused metaphor, but hey, it wasn’t her fault for listening to ‘Song of the Seasons’ again.

It took her until the afternoon for her to want to take a breather. She noticed her phone pinged a few minutes later. Shinobu looked over the notification to see it was from–

Kyoko: can we talk at vinyl rn? it’s important.

Shinobu read the text over and over again, her eyes and brain trying to make sure what she read was not an illusion.

Her heart and stomach twisted.

Ah.

Shinobu kept her phone in her pocket, put on her jacket, and went out.

The outside was colder than usual.

Kyoko had the guts to text her.

Shinobu had to watch herself as she walked through the streets, making sure she wasn’t stomping her way toward the cafe. She opened the door, the bell made that familiar chime as she scanned the cafe for a familiar face as somber jazz played from a record player.

Once she saw a familiar hat, she walked toward the booth, not caring to order anything. Kyoko wore a plain shirt and shorts, a familiar pair of hightops while a jacket was tied around her waist. Her bracelets shined under the cafe lights.

“Hey!” Kyoko greeted with a smile. Shinobu sat down from the opposite side while the singer took a sip of what seemed to be coffee.

Shinobu just glared, her mind trying to form words that weren’t frustrated. “ Hey. ”

“Um… so, uh, how are you?” Kyoko asked, eyes seeming to focus on her and her only. Shinobu looked down at the cold table instead.

“I’m alright.” Shinobu fidgeted with her sleeve, not knowing what else to do with her hands. “You knew this because of the reunion that happened literally a few weeks ago, remember?”

“O-oh yeah.” The brunette looked away, clearing her throat.

“Why did you want to meet up? You never texted about stuff like meeting up… after high school.” The DJ wanted it to be done and over with, the sooner she was done, the better.

“Well, uh, when I asked Esora and Yuka, I called them and it didn’t… um, it took a bit to answer.” Kyoko’s hands seemed to fidget with her bracelets. That was a semi-new habit. “So… I decided to… uh, meet up face to face."

“Alright then.” Shinobu’s eyes had not looked up at Kyoko’s, the farthest her eyes went was up to her chin where she could see a choker. That was new. “What did you text me for?”

“Oh yeah, um…” The singer’s hands continued to fiddle. It irritated Shinobu for some odd reason. “I’m going on that trip in a few days, so I was thinking instead of it just being me, why not bring all three of you?”

Shinobu finally looked at her in the eyes, her mouth agape, eyebrows furrowed.

Her eyes returned to the table, mouth closed. “I see.”

“I… I miss hanging out with all of you, so… why not bring you with me?” Kyoko went to sip her coffee, making Shinobu notice how her hand shook.

The DJ waited for her to finish drinking, letting the somber jazz song fill the air and for the DJ to collect her thoughts. “How did you get the money?”

“I worked really hard! But, uh, Esora wanted to cover the tickets, haha.”

Shinobu had a feeling Esora was going to do something like that. “How long’s the trip? What day is it?”

The brunette’s voice had an odd lilt. “Well, um, I’m thinking about going for a week on the 6th of May until the 13th, just you, me, Esora and Yuka! Like the old days, you know?”

Shinobu thought for a moment. That was in a few days, she had only that time to give an answer. She remembered what her grandfather told her during dinner a few weeks ago.

“Maybe see? A change in atmosphere can help.”

Damn the old man for being right.

Shinobu looked at Ryujin pouring in a glass of water. She tsked. “Why should I join?”

“Because! This… we can reconnect again!” Kyoko had a smile. “Maybe even perform at that joint live?”

The pink-haired furrowed her eyebrows, eyes still on the table; she let the music stall for her a little. “Wasn’t the reunion enough for you?”

Kyoko tried to look into her eyes, but Shinobu didn’t make eye contact. “But, don’t you want to come with?”

Shinobu hated how the singer sounded, but controlled herself still. She breathed out. “Look, I’m busy–”

“What’s keeping you so busy then?” That was the first time Kyoko cut her off, shocking both her and the DJ. The jazz filled the space for a moment, the both of them trying to find words to fix the conversation. “I-I’m sorry, I mean, what are you working on?”

Both of them had a feeling this conversation was turning into something else.

They needed to control themselves, they’re both adults now, plus, the public setting didn’t help.

“Like I said, I’m busy with a project. It’s been in the works for a while and I’m almost done.” The DJ dug her nails into her wrist.

Kyoko exhaled. “Can’t I help? I’m sure I can help in some way.”

Shinobu shook her head. “It’s personal to me, so no.” The pink-haired regretted saying it like that. A bit sharp, a bit angry.

The brunette’s mouth opened, as if to speak, before sighing. “Alright then.” Shinobu looked at her cheek and noticed her eyes – they looked a little tired – were staring at the other side. “But can’t you at least think about it? Please?”

Shinobu looked into Kyoko’s eyes. They weren’t looking at her. “Sure, I’ll think about it.”

That managed to bring a soft smile, The singer’s eyes turned to hers, but Shinobu turned to the table again.

“Thanks.”

The DJ stood up, sighing. “No promises.” She shuffled out the booth, about to leave. “I’ll text you once I’ve decided.”

“Alright.” Kyoko’s voice had a faint drop. Maybe her voice didn’t change much and Shinobu was imagining things.

The pink haired shook the thoughts off, making her way toward the exit.

As she went to reach the door, the buzz of the cafe filled her senses: the smell of coffee, the sound of people, the feel of their footsteps meeting the ground. Her senses knew them, yet it felt new.

Then, as the DJ’s hand touched the knob, she felt the familiar temperature of a warm hand holding onto her wrist.

“Hey.”

She turned to see Kyoko with her dyed hair and ear piercings. Her eyes went straight to look around the area near her chin.

Shinobu moved her hand away in the kindest way she could. “What is it?”

Kyoko blinked for a moment before clearing her throat. “Um, I just wanted to say sorry for–”

“S-stop.” Shinobu cutted off, she wasn’t in the mood to talk about that at the moment. “We can… we can talk about it another time.”

The singer’s voice softened. “Ah… okay.”

Shinobu opened the door, making the cafe bell chime. “I’ll see you later.”

And she closed the door as soon as the words left her mouth.

Shinobu returned home, exhaling and lying down on the couch as soon as she got in. Her mind in disarray.

“What’s on your mind?” Her grandfather seemed to always notice when she had a dilemma. He was sitting a few inches away. “Also, I didn’t know you went out.”

“Yeah, I did.” She took one of the throw pillows and placed it close to her chest. “Met up with Kyoko today.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, and…” She looked at her grandfather for a moment. “She… wants me to go with her overseas for a bit, I guess.”

He smiled. “Sounds to me you got that change in atmosphere I was telling you about.”

Shinobu sighed. “Yeah, yeah.”

The house stayed silent until Dennojo asked, “Are you going to go?”

“… Maybe, I’m not sure. I need to make sure someone will watch over you.” Shinobu didn’t want to leave him without any supervision, he may have recovered, but many bad things can happen to him easily.

Her grandfather patted Hanzo’s head who was right beside him. “I’m sure Hanzo is capable.”

Shinobu looked at the dog that was currently napping. “Someone human, you old man.”

Her grandfather huffed. “Ask your siblings then.”

The young DJ groaned. “Don’t want to.”

“But if you do, you might be able to finish those lyrics of yours.”

Shinobu couldn’t deny that if she went on this trip she could find more ways to express her feelings in the song, but she didn’t want to return to find Hanzo alone in the house. “I’m fine, I got a few lines down.”

Dennojo raised an eyebrow. “How many are these lines?”

Shinobu squeezed the pillow in her hands. “… four.”

He sighed. “Call your sister, I’m sure she’ll understand once I talk to her about it.”

Shinobu stayed silent before sighing. “Fine.”

She took out her phone and went to her contacts to call her sister, handing the phone to Dennojo as she walked toward the kitchen, not wanting to listen in. For a week, Shinobu was going to be overseas with her unit members that she hadn’t hung out with ever since high school.

One of whom she barely knew anymore.

They had problems that they ignored in the reunion so they didn’t make anyone uncomfortable, but they were sure everyone noticed how different they were with each other. How they avoided eyes with each other, how they didn’t pay the other mind even though they were squished up at the booth, how they talked with everyone except the other.

That was too evident when they met up alone at Vinyl. No one they knew was with them, only each other, but they still had to hold back because of the public space. Shinobu wondered what would happen if they were just alone. Would they explode on each other? Argue as though they were in a drama? Maybe even exchange a few punches? Would they cry? Would they apologize over and over in soft tones because one of them started to cry? Would they just look into each others’ eyes, noticing how tired and spent they were?

What would happen?

Shinobu couldn’t find an answer.

She waited and waited, noticing how long her grandfather was talking with her sister. He sighed, massaging his forehead as he explained the situation.

Maybe she should’ve called her brother, he was kinder when it came to asking favors.

The clock ticked the amount of seconds and minutes that passed, Shinobu almost went to sleep on her kitchen counter until she felt someone shake her shoulder. Her eyes opened to see her grandfather holding her phone.

“She agreed, no turning back, okay?” He huffed. “It took me so long for her to agree, so please find a way to enjoy that stay overseas.”

Shinobu sighed. “Alright.”

The DJ walked to the warehouse, hoping to write a few lyrics down. The warehouse was cold as usual, but that didn’t stop her from working.

She wrote down lyrics that could fit the best she could, but none stuck. They all sounded boring. She sighed, deciding to rethink the first four lines again. She wrote down and erased lyrics again and again. Writing until she felt satisfied. Her phone pinged, causing Shinobu to look over it.

Kyoko: have you decided?

She sighed.

Shinobu: im going with u, tell me what i need to bring and stuff

She turned off her phone as Kyoko started to type out a reply.

The warehouse started to warm up a little.

Chapter Text

The DJ looked over the ceiling, her eyes tracing through every little inch of the surface as nothing but the sounds of outside filled the silence in her room. She wasn’t sleeping in the warehouse, but her actual room. She felt out of place yet belonged in this space, perhaps it was because of how little she stayed in the room, but she couldn’t help those feelings to envelop her.

Tomorrow was the day she was going overseas with Kyoko, Esora and Yuka.

Maybe it will be like the old days, they’ll laugh and have fun.

Or maybe not.

Shinobu couldn’t tell.

She moved to look to the side to see her luggage and bag. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned away. It had been a few days since Kyoko asked her to come with her overseas, she finally readied what she needed during those days, making sure she didn’t carry too much for a one week trip. The pink-haired sighed, closing her eyes. She needed to sleep early, even though their flight was in the afternoon. She was sure the sun was starting to rise soon.

The darkness started to shape and form into a stage. A bright light caused Shinobu to look away.

She opened her eyes to see and hear a screaming audience, all of them held lightsticks that were colored orange.

Ah.

It was D4FES yet again.

She knew this sight. She turned to her right to see Esora standing upright trying her very best to hide her exhaustion, making the pink-haired laugh. She looked over beside Esora to see Yuka still standing tall waving to all of the fans cheering for them, smile bright. Then Shinobu turned to the other side to see Kyoko standing right beside her, the DJ couldn’t see her face, her bangs covered her eyes, her breathing unsteady right after an exhausting victory. The vocalist was smiling, the DJ was sure. Their hands held onto each other's tight.

The announcer went up to Kyoko, handing the microphone to let her speak.

The brunette took it gladly, letting go of Shinobu’s hand.

She took a step forward, her lips starting to utter words.

The DJ looked down, exhausted even though she knew she didn’t dance much, trying to catch her breath. She wondered when Kyoko was going to speak.

Shinobu looked up to see the lights died, the fans left and so did the other members of Peaky P-key.

She tried to speak, but no sound came out.

She tried to yell, but no sound came out.

She looked down at the audience to see Kyoko standing right there, her back facing Shinobu. The DJ jumped from the stage, not wanting to lose her, but Kyoko started to walk.

She was faster for some reason, it was odd, but Shinobu still tried to reach her.

Her hand stretched as far as it could, trying to even graze her hair, but as soon as her hand was close–

Kyoko was just gone.

She disappeared, leaving only her hat.

Shinobu stopped running, her breath even more uneven than a while ago. When was the last time she ran like this? She didn’t know.

The DJ looked over the hat. The hat that her vocalist loved so much for a silly reason.

She picked it off the ground, still in pristine condition. Shinobu looked up, now in another area. She was in her grandfather’s warehouse, but the lights weren’t on. She was where she usually worked, her table and computer were alike to how it usually was.

She looked around the room, taking in everything that she knew. She wasn’t on that stage anymore.

She stopped when she saw someone in the doorway.

It was a girl around her age sitting on the floor. Her hair was pink that turned into yellow at the tips of her hair that rested on her shoulders, her body was mostly covered by baggy clothing and her face was covered by her hands. She was sniffling. Shinobu looked over at her for a moment. She seemed to be invisible to the young girl.

She turned her back and looked at her computer. Its light was a bright orange that emitted a blinding glow to the point the DJ had to cover her eyes and close them.

Her eyes opened to her room’s ceiling and the sound of faint cityscapes. The light of the sun didn’t filter through Shinobu’s window to blind her.

It was just a nightmare before the actual one.

Shinobu sighed, not feeling well rested at all, but still started to get ready anyway.

The DJ felt dread and some other emotions she didn’t have time to point out at the moment fill her stomach. Her bag made her shoulders ache and her hand was already sore from holding onto her luggage. She wasn’t in the middle of the monstrosity that was people trying to find loved ones and going from one flight to another, but at the side where tired business people and sleeping children stayed, something of which she was glad about.

She looked around the airport, her eyes trying to find any faces that she knew. Her nerves kept making her mistake people that looked slightly similar to her unit members for as themselves. She arrived a whole four hours before their flight, if they were going to be late in any way she was sure to never speak to them ever again. The low volume music she was playing in her earphones helped a little, but her eyes still mistook blondes and people wearing caps for ones she knew. Esora was easy to spot, if she saw someone struggling with luggage or about to lead her to a private jet or something of the sort, she knew it was her.

The airport was always suffocating. Shinobu knew how it went, multiple people going from multiple countries, some reuniting, some separating. The airport was a place where change was forced upon people so they could leave a few things important to move on. She knew what it was like with the amount of times she had to go here to say goodbye to her parents with every visit.

Perhaps she should use that for her lyrics.

The DJ took out her phone and went to her notes. She was sick of pencil and paper, but she still brought a pencil and notebook in case her phone was low in battery and had to write down a thought. Her fingers moved fast, not wanting the thought to leave her. She was satisfied when she managed to type down words that captured how she felt, keeping her phone back in her pocket as she continued to look for a few more minutes.

“Hey!” A familiar voice called. Shinobu took off one of her earphones, looking around, hoping the voice was not made up.

Soon, a familiar brunette with one luggage bag trailing behind her with a heavy backpack walked up to her. Her eyes shone brightly even if the sunglasses she wore hid them, her hat was plain black, her jacket looked like a button up that was mostly white except for the area with the buttons and collar, and her shirt was plain gray. Her dyed hair was swept to her back, letting Shinobu see her piercings clearly.

It took her a moment for her to realize it was Kyoko.

“You’re really early….” Kyoko laughed. “I noticed you were already there as well at the reunion, were you early too?”

Shinobu kept her earphones and phone in her bag, not wanting to lose them later. “First one there.”

Kyoko looked at her surprised, causing Shinobu to look down at their shoes. “Wow, haha, you developed a habit of arriving early, huh?”

“Not really, just something I forced myself to learn at… college.” Shinobu wasn't in the mood for this type of small talk. “Um, you know where Esora and Yuka are? We need to get ready for our flight.”

“Don’t know, but let’s wait for them for a bit!” Kyoko said with a smile. “Maybe there’s traffic stopping them!”

Shinobu sighed. “Okay.”

The minutes ticked by, some of the business people and children with their parents already went to their flights while Kyoko and Shinobu stayed, nervous as the sun started to dim.

“Are you sure they know the date?” Shinobu asked, they didn’t engage in any small talk during the time, the DJ was too nervous to think of anything to talk about.

“I’m sure, I sent the correct date.” Kyoko continued looking around, eyes scanning the people walking around for any sign of it being Yuka or Esora.

Shinobu huffed. “Maybe they read it wrong.”

“Look, I’ll just ask Esora.” Kyoko took out her phone and typed a quick message to said girl. The vocalist tapped her foot as she waited for a response while Shinobu looked around in case they showed up.

Moments passed and Kyoko’s phone started to ring. She picked it up and put it on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Kyoko!” Esora answered with a very mischievous tone. Shinobu didn’t like it. “You know how me and Yuka were meant to come with you and Shinobu to the Philippines?”

“Yeah, I’m right here.” Shinobu replied instead.

The DJ could practically hear the blinking. “Well, um… something came up involving the Shimizu Group and I have to decline.”

“What!?” Both of them yell into the speaker, if the airport was any less busy all of the heads would’ve turned to them.

Esora sighed. “Yes, it’s a shame, really, but you see–”

“What about Yuka?” The pink-haired asked, she was screaming in her mind that Yuka could join.

“Ah, well, you see–”

“Get her on the phone.” Shinobu didn’t like how that sentence started.

A sigh escaped from the phone. “Fine, wait a moment.” Esora’s line stayed silent until there was the sound of rustling.

“Hello?”

Shinobu breathed in. “Yuka, why the hell are you not coming with us?”

“Oh, about that…” She chuckled nervously. “There’s a huge order coming up for the gym soon and I need to help with lifting.”

Shinobu groaned. “That’s it!?”

“Yeah, so to compensate for our absence Esora set up a private jet ride and already booked a hotel in, uh, May-nila – did I say that right? – just for you two!” Yuka’s voice was quite happy, unlike Shinobu at the moment.

“Thank you… you two, for the free ride.” Kyoko said with a sigh.

“Sorry you two! Maybe next time?” Yuka’s voice didn’t sound very sorry to Shinobu’s ears, irritating the DJ even more.

The brunette sighed again, this time her sunglasses were taken off. “Yeah, next time… see you.”

“Bye bye!!”

Kyoko ended the call, sighing as she placed her sunglasses on her hat. The both of them stayed quiet for a moment.

“…This was their plan all along wasn’t it?” Shinobu finally spoke.

“Yep.” Was the singer’s soft reply. “No wonder she said she’ll handle it.” Her phone pinged again, making the vocalist bring the phone up for her to see. “Ah, she sent us where to find the jet.”

Shinobu sighed.

It was starting to look terrible and the DJ hasn’t even left Japanese waters.

The directions Esora gave made them look like headless chickens in the airport, but once they found the correct ones to take, the stress started to melt away. The ride was smooth, something the pink-haired remembered she was always glad about whenever Esora dragged them out to somewhere far. Shinobu stayed in her seat, the cool air of the conditioner made her unable to sleep.

She knew Kyoko was already passed out, she saw her asleep when she went to the bathroom a few minutes ago. It was only her and the pilots awake. The only sounds that accompanied Shinobu was her chewing gum and the whirl of the engine of the plane.

She needed to sleep, it would take five hours, but she knew the change in time zone would mess her mind. They left in the afternoon, so they would arrive in the Philippines at night.

The DJ asked Kyoko when she was awake what the weather was like at this time of the year, her answer was:

“Hmm, well it’s summer there so I’m guessing it's hot, so don’t wear your jacket when we leave the airport, okay?”

Kyoko knew more about the country than Shinobu did thanks to her father, so she trusted the prediction. Her father lived there ever since he was young, him being wrong about the weather would be odd. She just needed to trust Kyoko’s father and be fine.

She looked at the reflection of herself on the TV. Her younger self seemed to look at her with another pin stopping a part of her hair from going over her face. She rubbed her face and her reflection followed. Her reflection looked at her with glaring eyes. She sighed, remembering what she promised her grandfather.

“It took me so long for her to agree, so please find a way to enjoy that stay overseas.”

She took out the gum in her mouth and wrapped it in the wrapper so she could throw it later, unsure of what else to do. She unlocked her phone and noticed the notes she had for the lyrics:

“Left behind. Frustrated. Staying stagnant. Seasons change constantly yet I am not. Airports force me to say goodbye all the time.”

She sighed, a little embarrassed at these notes, but they were useful, she couldn’t deny that. Shinobu wished she could listen to the song, but she was afraid she might make the jet crash. The DJ tried to type anything down, but nothing was good. Minutes passed of her typing and deleting the lyrics she made up.

Moments later, Shinobu looked over her phone with half-lidded eyes. Her hands tried to add in one final word, but it gave up. Even as she started to shut down, Shinobu managed to turn off her phone and kept it in her pockets, her eyes finally giving in.

She opened her eyes to her familiar, bland home. The walls were a dull white, her desk was where it should be, the way her room looked was the same. Her eyes had seen this room plenty of times. 

She lay there, sinking in the familiarity of her home. Her eyes saw the ceiling, her hands felt the softness of her bed, her nose can smell the familiar scent of Hanzo from the amount of times he lay there and her ears can hear the whirl of her computer.

She lay there for a few moments, sinking in how familiar it is. She wasn’t in the skies, she wasn’t in a jet, she wasn’t with someone she barely knew anymore.

She was home.

She closed her eyes again, content with where she was.

Her vision darkened, the sight of the ceiling, the softness of her bed, the scent of Hanzo, and the whirl of her computer all disappeared.

It was dark again.

Minute passed of darkness, then she heard the whirl of her computer. Minutes rolled by, then she felt something wet touch her foot. She opened her eyes at the feeling.

She was in her room again, but it was cold and dark. The only light was her computer, the orange light filled the room with a pathetic glow, barely lighting the room. Shinobu got up, looking around an unfamiliar place.

She tried to leave her bed, but as her foot met the ground, she felt it plunge deep into water. The water was cold to the point that it sent a shock through Shinobu’s body. She took it out, noticing how soaked her foot was thanks to her computer’s light.

The water started to reach for her.

Shinobu looked around, but there was nothing in her sight. She looked to where her computer was, but the faint orange light was slowly dying.

She tried to yell – desperate – but she could not release a note.

The light was dead and Shinobu was left alone.

She felt the water touch her finger tips, causing her to stand.

The water reached her feet, the temperature made her shake.

She tried to scream again, but there was no sound.

The water raised quicker, cold shocks went through her body.

Shinobu looked at the darkness in front of her, the feeling of her bed was starting to leave as water surrounded her ankles.

She jumped, unsure of what else to do and–

“Shinobu!”

The DJ opened her eyes, frantic, unsure of where she was, she looked up to see Kyoko. She looked at her with concern, it was still night. Her hand held Shinobu’s shoulder tight, tight in the way it reminded Shinobu she wasn’t in that dreamscape. She was still in the skies, she was still in the jet, and she was still with Kyoko.

“Ky…?” Shinobu gasped, unable to speak any more. Her senses were still trying to get used to the fact she was awake.

“You… you screamed for help.” Was all she said, her tone soft. “It woke me up so I decided to check on you.”

Shinobu moved her hand off her shoulder. “Y-you can sleep now.” Shinobu adjusted the way she sat as she stared out the window, but Kyoko still stood there, her eyes looking at the DJ.

The engine of the jet filled the silence.

“What were you dreaming?”

Shinobu sunk into her seat.

“It’s none of your business.”

Kyoko took a step closer.

“Look, we’re–”

“Just-! Just… just go sleep.” Shinobu tried to raise her voice, but she couldn’t. Her voice box was unable to.

Kyoko furrowed her eyebrows. “But you looked distres–”

“Just sleep. I’m fine. ” Shinobu’s tone turned sharp just a little.

Kyoko stayed there for a moment, her eyes studying the DJ.

The engine of the jet filled that space.

Shinobu looked at her, eyes reaching up to her chin, not wanting to go any further.

The vocalist sighed. “Okay.” She walked back to her seat and went to drift back to sleep.

Shinobu looked outside, unable to slumber as the jet flew through the dark skies, the light of the stars were covered by thick clouds.

Chapter Text

Hours of darkness and hearing the annoying whirl of the engine and they managed to land. The both of them thanked and apologized to the two pilots who were involved with Esora’s devious plan, the both of them not minding the hassle at all. When Shinobu left the jet, she was met with a dark sky with barely any stars. The air was different. The weather was too. It was cold, not as cold in Japan, but still cold. She put on her jacket after the short exposure to it.

Kyoko lied.

“You know where to go?” Shinobu asked as they walked through the stunning airport, Kyoko was a step ahead of her. She noticed a few tired eyes pointing toward them wondering why they left with their luggage already as they picked theirs up. Her hand held onto her luggage just a little tighter. Airports were always a sight to behold, no matter the place, it always surprised Shinobu.

“Yep, we need to take a taxi.” Kyoko looked around, the signs seemed to be in English rather than the native tongue. “Good thing I know how to read English now…”

Shinobu looked at the woman beside her as they went outside. The brunette’s eyes studied over her phone – perhaps some notes – and sighed. She adjusted her hair as a cold wind passed them, letting Shinobu see those golden piercings clearly. The ones on the lobe were tiny gold crowns, similar to the logo of Peaky while the ones on the cartilage of her ear were simple gold helix earrings.

She looked too mature. Far more mature than Shinobu.

The DJ looked away, deciding to look out at the streets. It was a little loud for night. She could hear the sounds of different kinds of music from afar, hushed conversations, and there were still a few cars passing by that almost blinded her with how bright the lights were.

“Hey, you know where to go already?” Shinobu asked, hoping to sleep soon. She didn’t catch any before and after they took flight in Japan. Her nightmares didn’t really help with letting her return to sleep.

“Yeah, wait a sec, I’m still trying to find the hotel Esora booked for us so I can tell the driver…” Kyoko continued to squint and compare her notes to a map while Shinobu continued to look around the new city.

Shinobu noticed there were a few trains moving through the night, a few people sleeping as they rode home. She looked up at the sky they were just in and saw the lights of airplanes moving rather than the stars. It seemed this place kept on moving and breathing even if it was empty, that or it was just how the Philippines was at night. Perhaps it was a little…

“Ah, found it!” Kyoko smiled, turning off her phone and looking around, sticking a hand out. Shinobu just looked around, wary, until minutes later, a taxi drove close to them.

“Where are you going? ” The driver asked. He was a man – around his thirties? – that had a few eyebags and wrinkles on his face, but his hair was still in pristine condition. Shinobu knew the language he spoke was English, which was odd, but it must be because his line of work involved working with those overseas.

“Uh, um…“ Kyoko looked down at her phone for a moment before looking up at the driver. “Um, ano po, sa Red Planet Hotel. ”

The taxi driver raised an eyebrow. Perhaps some of Kyoko’s pronunciation was odd. “Ano? ”

Kyoko stiffened up a little. “Um, uh, R-Red Planet… Hotel. ”

The driver squinted at her, confused.

“Teka lang po… ” Kyoko showed the driver what hotel Esora booked them for. “Ito, po. ”

The driver looked at it for a moment before nodding. “Sige. ”

“What did he say?” Shinobu asked, unsure of what was spoken. She did note that Kyoko's voice sounded weird when she spoke Tagalog, it must've been the pitch.

Kyoko turned to her, dragging her luggage along. “Put your stuff in the trunk, then go inside.”

Shinobu was sure there was more to the conversation, but was glad to hear the vocalist's voice in that familiar tone. “Okay.”

She did as she was told (even if she struggled with the weight), her eyes never leaving how Kyoko seemed to shrink into herself as they got inside. Shinobu opened her mouth to speak, but decided against it. Her eyes forced themselves off the brunette and went to the window.

Maynila – was that the name? – looked beautiful at night, the DJ was sure. The advertisements in the city were bright and reminded Shinobu of a night time Tokyo, the only difference being the languages. Most of the ads were in English, not the native language. There were a few – perhaps a mix of both languages? – that had Tagalog, but a majority was English.

She looked to the streets to see people still scattered around, some looked tired while some seemed to have the time of their lives. Shinobu couldn’t help but drown in that colorful atmosphere.

“Manga tourist kayo, po? ” The driver asked, noticing how Shinobu stared. It seemed he started to speak in his native tongue with how relaxed and quick his words were.

“Um…” Kyoko cleared her throat, her pitch different when she spoke. “Ano po, uh, parang ganyan. Nag vi-visit lang kasi na galing yung tatay ko po dito. "

He raised an eyebrow. “Haponero kayong dalawa? ”

Kyoko shook her head. “Ah, tama po, pero ako half, “ Kyoko said as she pointed to herself, “at siya, ano, full. ”

Shinobu looked at her confused. “What?”

The driver chuckled. “Ah….” He nodded then continued focusing on the road. “So…. ano, kaibigan kayong dalawa? ”

Kyoko glanced at the DJ, her eyes looked cold under the blue lights. “Parang ganyan. ”

Shinobu didn’t like the look. “What did you just say?”

Kyoko looked at the driver, her voice back at the familiar pitch. “It’s nothing.”

Shinobu furrowed her eyebrows. “…Okay.”

The driver stayed silent until he cleared his throat. “So, bakit kayo dito sa Pilipinas? ”

Kyoko bit her lip for a moment before her voice became unfamiliar. “Um, gusto ko po lang. At– ano, – ahh… bale wala. ”

“Ahh, sige. ”

The car ride fell silent after that, the sound of the air conditioner, wheels whirling, blinkers and turners making their little noises and the faint sound of other vehicles filled the air.

It was too cold for Shinobu to sleep, her eyes unable to just rest.

This silence continued on for a few more moments.

Hours (maybe one?) stuck in a stuffy car as people enjoyed the night or went home with tired eyes and they arrived in front of the hotel Esora booked for them.

“Salamat, po. ” Kyoko said as she paid the fee for the taxi ride. The both of them were outside with the cold night air swept through their hair and clothes.

Shinobu looked up at the bright red building, the sign for the hotel was brightly lit, similar to the other buildings around it.

It looked… expensive.

Maybe Esora was right to pay for everything after all.

“Shinobu, you need to get your luggage.” Kyoko called, already getting hers out the trunk.

The DJ forgot for a moment it was Kyoko. “Oh, thanks.”

Shinobu took her luggage out the trunk, trying not to seem like she struggled with the weight.

“Let’s go.” The brunette said as she walked toward the entrance, her backpack and luggage already in tow as Shinobu lagged behind with hers.

“What were you talking about with the driver a while ago?” The DJ asked as she tried to walk beside her. She was just a step behind.

Kyoko looked up at the building sign before she walked in. “Nothing really, he just asked why we were here and stuff.”

Shinbou’s legs hurried to not let the doors close on her. “Is that it?”

Kyoko looked around for a moment before answering with, “Yep.”

Shinobu squinted her eyes at the brunette in front of her. “But it sounded like there was more to it.”

Kyoko stopped for a moment, contemplating. “No, that was all.”

Shinobu huffed. “But–”

“It’s nothing, Shinobu.” Kyoko’s tone was firmer. Stricter. “Don’t worry about it.”

Shinobu furrowed her eyebrows as the brunette walked to the reception. “Okay."

Once they were given their key card, they made their way toward their room in the elevator. Their room number was ‘325’, making them wait three floors before they could reach theirs.

The elevator ride was silent with just the both of them and their luggage, there were barely any people out in the hotel other than the staff that busied themselves with their jobs. Shinobu took one look at some of their faces, most were exhausted and wanted to return home.

It had been four – five? – years since the DJ left the country, her hands seemed to shake and her heart sped up at the thought.

“Almost there.” Kyoko said. Her first words after moments of quiet.

Shinobu didn’t know if she should let the quiet fill again. “Okay.”

The elevator opened to their floor, a cue for them to continue.

Kyoko walked out first and Shinobu was behind.

Shinobu looked at each door, trying to find ‘325’ as they walked through the silent hallway. Everyone was fast asleep but the night still breathed.

“Found it!” Kyoko stopped walking to point to a room that had the exact numbers engraved into the key card. “Let’s go.”

Shinobu hesitated to move for a moment as Kyoko unlocked the room and went inside. “Yeah.”

The room was nice. There was a large window that showed a view of the city, two beds (Shinobu was relieved to see two) that seemed comfy enough to help her sleep and a bathroom for when they needed to clean themselves.

It was enough, at least.

Shinobu stood at the doorway, her senses not taking in any more information.

“Hey, come in, the door will close.” Kyoko called as she stared, causing the pink-haired to snap out of her small trance.

“Oh yeah.” Shinobu went in to only stand near the doorway.

“They have a hair dryer, so you don’t need to worry about damping the pillows– oh yeah! The air conditioner is also a heater so…” Kyoko continued talking as she pointed to some parts of the room, things that Shinobu should probably listen to, but the DJ was distracted by something else, something that has been bugging her.

“Why did you bring me here?” Shinobu asked.

“And then for breakfast– hm?” Kyoko opened the curtain to show the city view and looked at Shinobu, but the pink-haired looked to the uncarpeted floor.

“Why did you want me here?” The DJ spoke in a clearer tone, hoping her question wouldn’t be muddled by the sounds of the city outside the window.

“Uh… isn’t it obvious? I missed you!” Kyoko’s voice went a little higher like how it did when she spoke Tagalog.

“Really? Or are you just… trying to compensate for something?” Shinobu crossed her arms.

“I am, I’m compensating for lost time! It’s been a while since we managed to hang out like this!”

Shinobu waited a beat before answering, her mind trying to find words to string her thoughts perfectly. “Okay.”

“So! I was thinking, tomorrow, we’re going to MoA – that’s, uh, Mall of Asia –  which is a few minutes away depending on if we use a taxi or train!”

“Mm.”

“There’s a few food places I wanna see there and… uh.” Kyoko cleared her throat. “Are… are you just going to, uh, stand there? Shinobu?”

Shinobu moved her luggage to where Kyoko’s were – near the wall – as she spoke. “Hey, don't you think it’s high time we talked about that? ”

Kyoko’s eyes turned panicked but she still kept her cool by laughing. “We won’t have time to unpack everything properly.” Kyoko went to one of the beds and placed her hat on the bedside table. “Come on, we can talk about it tomo–”

Shinobu tsked. “Yeah then when tomorrow comes we’ll never talk about it because we’re going somewhere and the next, so now’s the perfect time.”

Kyoko looked at her hands, fidgeting with them. “It’s not the right time.”

The DJ groaned. “At Vinyl I said that wasn’t the perfect time, but now I think it is. There’s no one here to stop us.”

The vocalist sighed. “But I’m tired, I don’t have the energy to talk about that, we also need to leave early–”

“Stop with the damn excuses, Kyoko.” Shinobu’s voice and words sounded unfamiliar.

A certain feeling filled the room.

A feeling that suffocated their meeting at Vinyl weeks ago.

Kyoko looked Shinobu right in the eyes after she said those words. Her eyes looked different from before.

“What did I do?”

Shinobu only saw this exact expression on Kyoko’s face on that day years ago. “You… you’re hiding… you – ugh, – you left me? You just– you left with no warning!”

“What do you mean? I told you! I said I was going overseas!” Kyoko stood up, walking toward Shinobu as she yelled.

“And you didn't tell me!? You– you just left without saying a word!” The DJ’s hands were shaking as she moved them around to extenuate her words.

Kyoko gave her a confused look. “What do you mean? I told you, Yuka, and Esora I was going to!"

"I don't remember that!"

"I said it during that live!" Shinobu looked away, not wanting to at her. "Look, I didn’t know! I learned so much from going overseas, I think–”

Shinobu laughed at her. “And what about Peaky P-key? Do you know what happened to that!? Do you!?!” Kyoko tried to speak but Shinobu didn't let her. "I am sick– sick of having to do so much for you! Do you know? Do you know how much I adjust and do for you? Huh?”

“What do you mean? I adjusted for you! You were the one who always called the shots with how the song–”

“Says the leader of Peaky–”

“You were the one who asked me to–”

“No I wasn’t. ” The DJ sighed. “It was because of you– you fucking – you bugging me nonstop and getting better than me–”

“Then why–”

“I thought– “Shinobu laughed, “I thought that Yuka and Esora could help our stupid mess but I guess not because those idiots decided to ditch. Shows how much of a fucking mess we are.”

Kyoko sighed. “Maybe we wouldn’t be arguing if you didn’t bring up–”

“Bring up the fact you left and hurt everyone ? Yeah sure I just wanted to–”

“Just drop it, Shinobu!!” Kyoko’s voice strained for her to be louder than the DJ.

Shinobu knew she would never do that, straining her voice was something Kyoko didn’t like.

She didn’t know this woman.

The DJ looked over her hands, her shaking, pathetic hands. “… Fine.”

Shinobu looked out to the window, the city lights were hurting her eyes, causing her to walk toward the curtain to cover the windows with it. The sound of the curtain moving fixed the mood a little.

“Let’s…” Kyoko began before sighing, her voice softer than before. “Let’s just… go to sleep.”

“Mm.”

Shinobu heard Kyoko’s bracelets clinking as she placed them on her bedside table. “We have a long day tomorrow… so, uh, yeah.”

Shinobu took off her pin that held her hair together, letting a few strands get in front of her face. “Yeah.”

Kyoko’s thick covers shuffled – her bed was the one close to the window – around and when Shinobu turned to the vocalist her eyes were already closed, trying to sleep.

The DJ walked toward the light switch and turned it off, the only light source now being the small amount of orange light that hit close to where Kyoko’s body was.

She placed her phone and pin on her bedside table along with her barrette that she has grown a long attachment to. The pink-haired climbed onto her bed and noticed how puffy it was. It made her sink too much for her liking.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so comfortable.

As she hid under the thick (and suffocating) covers, she heard the sounds of little taps on the window similar to a beat.

Raindrops.

It was raining as well.

She sighed, closing her eyes, her only familiar companion being the rain that dripped outside of their hotel room.

Chapter Text

The summer heat tried to beat Shinobu down, but she still kept her head up, not wanting to give in. It was the afternoon, just after school and practice. She, along with Kyoko, Yuka and Esora, wiped off the sweat that started to pool.

“Hey, do– do we really need to practice this hard?” Esora asked as she heaved air in and out of her lungs.

“Yeah… we gotta make sure the show goes perfectly.” Kyoko replied, already standing as though to get ready to start their routine again.

“I think we should rest a little, Shinobu and Esora are dying here.” Yuka said as she pointed to the DJ that was leaning over the controller. “They might pass out because of the heat, haha!”

Kyoko’s expression softened. “Sure.” The vocalist went to sit near the DJ booth to rest, Esora and Yuka went to drink some water and Shinobu went off to wipe the sweat off with a towel.

“Hey, just wondering…” Yuka said before she took a quick sip from her water bottle. “Do any of you know what universities you’re all going to?”

“This again?” Esora sighed. “I think it’s obvious what I’m doing.”

“Oh yeah, you’re gonna start training under your parents more, right?”

Esora hummed. “Something like that, gonna go to a university while training under them.”

“Ooh, multi-tasker? Since when?” Shinobu chided, the little tease bubbled out.

Esora huffed, taking a drink of water before asking, “What about you, Shinobu? Are you going to university?”

“Yeah, thinking of going to the uni Nagi and my sister went to, it’s a good uni that has a really good budget for all of their courses, especially like stuff involving the industry.” Shinobu replied simply. “What’s with the looks?”

“Just… didn’t expect you to plan on going to university, that’s all.” Esora muttered before going to take a sip of her water.

“Oi, what does that mean!?” Shinobu huffed and walked toward Esora, causing the dancer to hide behind Yuka.

“Noooothing~”

“Oi, Yuka! Let me at her!” The DJ yelled as she tried to get Esora who was giggling at her.

“Uh…” Yuka looked between the two before she picked up Esora like a cat. “There! Now Esora’s caught!”

“Yuka~! Traitor!” The green-haired stuck her tongue out at the blonde.

“That’s what you get!” Shinobu pinched Esora’s cheek, making the poor girl squeak. “Okay, I’m satisfied, you can put her down now.”

“Who said I was going to put her down?” Yuka said with a grin. Shinobu fistbumped with the blonde right after.

“Hey, wait! Yuka~!!” Esora kicked her legs to wriggle out of the blonde’s grasp, but her grip was too strong.

“Oh yeah, Yuka, what uni are you going to?” Shinobu questioned while the blonde kept her hold on Esora.

“Hmm, maybe Seiho! Don’t know.” Yuka laughed while the dancer in her arms tried to take off her hands. “I think… I might not go, I-I dunno! I can already start working in my parent’s gym and get enough money to get galleries for my photos and stuff but…”

“C-can’t you also study abroad?” Esora suggested as she struggled. “I’m… sure your parents wouldn’t - I swear, - mind you going to America to study with Maika-chan.”

Yuka still didn’t let her go. “But I don’t wanna disturb Maika! I’m not even that good at English to be able to go overseas yet anyway…”

“I can teach you.” Esora grinned back at her. “But first, you need to put me down.”

Yuka gave Esora a look. “Maybe I’ll be fine without your help, I think I can ask Ibuki inste–”

“Yukaa~!!” The trapped dancer groaned, she was shaking Yuka now. “Just put me down!”

The blonde laughed. “I dunno, this can be free weight training or something!”

Esora continued to negotiate while Shinobu just thought over what she suggested. Her gut twisted weirdly at what the dancer said.

Yuka? Going overseas? It wasn’t a bad idea, but it made Shinobu a little worried. Yuka handled conversations with foreigners just fine, but she might need something more that quick quips and phrases to get by.

“Kyoko! Help me~!” Esora cried, snapping Shinobu out of her small trance.

“Haha, I think we took a long enough break.” Kyoko said as she walked toward Yuka. “I think it’s time you should put her down, Yuka.”

“Okay…” Yuka whined as she let Esora down. The shorter dancer gave Shinobu a quick pout before turning to Kyoko.

“Oh yeah, what university are you going to, Kyoko?” Esora asked with a grin.

Their leader laughed, perhaps embarrassed at the question. “Ahhh, I dunno, I was thinking of going to–”

Shinobu’s body was flying before her entire body hit something hard and her eyes opened to being in an unfamiliar area, her heart beating fast.

She checked her surroundings. She heard the sound of rain, was on the floor near her bed and noticed a few luggages – one of them was hers – in the corner. She was covered by what seemed to be bed covers that fell down with her to the cold floor.

The DJ stood up even if her head throbbed as though she were hung over. It was still a little dark and her body felt like rust, but still forced herself up. She noticed another part of the room, the other bed had a lump that formed a person’s shape.

She sighed at the sight, ignoring it and went to pick up her phone. She checked to see it was still Japan’s time.

She sighed, adjusting her clock to be five hours ahead, showing her the actual time.

4:00 AM

The DJ groaned, remembering the time they arrived when they left the jet.

She only had at least three hours of sleep but she felt as though she were running on six.

“Hell.” Shinobu muttered before sitting back on the suffocating bed.

She looked through her notifications, which were mostly messages from her sister about where whatever was kept. She answered them slowly, not really in the mood to answer those types of messages but it was important so her sister wouldn’t put things where they shouldn’t be.

The pink-haired spent minutes answering those texts, her sister sent a lot of them while Shinobu was offline, it must’ve been some sort of way for her sister to spite the DJ for making her take care of their grandfather.

Slowly, the pink-haired grew tired of the task, remembering and typing out where certain things were kept. Her eyes struggled to stay open as she typed out the last answer to her sister’s questions.

As soon as she hit send, her eyes decided to rest.

Kyoko’s eyes opened slowly, not wanting to get blinded with any lights. Her peripheral vision blocked by a brown to red gradient, body swallowed by the bed she was lying on. Her head throbbed thanks to the softness of her bed combined with her pillow.

The light filtered through the window wasn’t much, but it still told the brunette that it was time for her to get up and ready. She slowly stood from the bed to move the curtains to see a Manila covered in clouds and rain that poured onto the streets, the sun covered by thick clouds.

“Huh, not as bad as I thought…” Kyoko stretched for a moment before sighing. She turned to see her companion for the trip passed out on the bed beside hers. Her chest rising up and down in a steady pattern.

She looked to be filled with happiness.

Kyoko frowned when she remembered what happened last night. The DJ had been experiencing nightmares of the kind that makes people scream in their sleep and act as though they were getting injured. She walked toward Shinobu, eyes looking over how peaceful she looked, phone still held tightly in her hands. Did her eyebags get deeper?

She decided to not disturb the DJ, she needed to catch up on any sleep she couldn’t get on the jet.

The vocalist opened her luggage and exhaled.

“Time to get ready.”

Kyoko started to get the clothes she needed for the day, it needed to be light in case it became hot but still able to wear a jacket in case it turned cold. The weather was unpredictable in the Philippines, her father warned her. It was an inconsistent mess unless it was the beginning or end of the year, it was both extremes, sunny that it can make appliances melt or rainy to the point of floods.

She hoped the weather would just stay in the middle their entire stay.

The brunette went in the bathroom to see it with the things that they needed. Shampoo, conditioner, soap, everything she needed was there. She felt a little musty, especially after being cooped up in that jet for so long.

A few moments later spent in the shower she was ready. She wore a button up over a graphic shirt of an album of a band she didn’t know paired with jean shorts and the shoes she wore yesterday. She brought a few accessories with her to wear – a necklace and bracelet for her right hand – to pair with her hat. She stepped out of the bathroom as she went to wrap her jacket around her waist to see Shinobu awake, already on her feet.

Kyoko smiled, but noticed how the DJ still looked tired. “Uh, morning.”

The pink-haired glanced at her and stretched. “Yeah.”

“Uh, you can use the shower now, by the way.” Kyoko said as she went to set up the hair dryer. “I just finished.”

Shinobu took a moment to answer, her mind must be catching up with being awake. “Okay.”

The vocalist turned on the hair dryer as Shinobu went through her luggage to get clothes to change into.

The atmosphere was quiet; not uncomfortable but not relaxing either. Kyoko was just glad Shinobu wasn’t bringing up what happened last night. At the thought of it, she grimaced. Both of them were frustrated and tired, especially because of Esora’s silly stunt, but it still didn’t give either of them an excuse to yell at each other that loud in the middle of the night.

“Oh shoot.” Kyoko almost dropped the hair dryer in her hand if she didn’t keep her grip. She continued drying her hair as a single thought filled her mind.

Did the other people on their floor hear them?

The thought made her face flush, she doubted there were people awake and understood what they said, but she was still worried.

“What’s up with you?” The pink-haired asked as she zipped her luggage up, a few of her clothes bundled up around her arm.

“Ahah, nothing, nothing.” Kyoko didn’t want to make Shinobu any more uncomfortable than she already was.

Shinobu looked at her for a moment before turning to the bathroom. “Okay, then.”

When the door shut, Kyoko was half-tempted to scream, but held it down. She needed to hold it in.

They needed to take either a taxi or a bus to go to Mall of Asia, but the former involved more money while the latter involved more social awareness and cautiousness. Her father told her over the years, again and again, that she should watch herself on public transport. He would never specify why, but the vocalist could guess the many reasons he told her to.

Her eyes gravitated to the window, drowning in the city that was still breathing even under the rain. People ran around, hoping to get to their next destination or the vehicle to lead them there.

She turned off the hair dryer, her fingers warm as she ran them through her hair.

Minutes later, Kyoko continued to get ready while Shinobu took a shower. She checked through her bag twice, her wallet twice and even re-read the routes they could take when it was time for them to go.

The door to the bathroom opened, showing off Shinobu in a simple plain shirt with pants that had the ends rolled up, her left hand had a bracelet that looked similar to Kyoko’s and her own necklace. Her hair was flatter and her face seemed to be free of eyebags. How odd.

Kyoko’s eyes followed Shinobu as she walked closer, eyes studying her.

“Did you keep the hair dryer?”

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s over there.” The brunette pointed to the area where the TV was, a small table that had the hair dryer.

“Thanks.” Shinobu replied flatly as she went to use the hair dryer.

“Um…” Kyoko still didn’t know if they should use the taxi or the bus. The bus was always cheaper, her father praised such a fact, but taxis were safer. Esora only covered the travel money, their only money was what the brunette saved up over the years. If Kyoko was smart, she would go for the bus.

“What?” Shinobu snapped Kyoko out of her thoughts, the hair dryer turned off so she could hear the vocalist.

Kyoko thought about her words for a moment before answering. “Uh, when we’re going to Mall of Asia, we need to use the bus.”

Shinobu continued to dry her hair. “Alright then.”

“That means you can’t take a nap.”

The dryer stopped again. “What?”

“Yeah, we, uh, need to use the bus because it’s cheaper. Problem is that… there, uh, there are a lot of weird people on them sometimes so we need to be cautious.”

Shinobu furrowed her eyebrows, trying to see Kyoko’s point, before shrugging. “Alright then.”

The dryer restarted its whirling as Kyoko said, “I need you to stick close to me also.”

The dryer didn’t stop this time. “Fine.”

The brunette was glad Shinobu wasn’t making a big fuss over last night, it calmed her nerves a little. As long as they kept this odd atmosphere up, she didn’t need to deal with whatever she was about to deal with before.

“What’s at Mall of Asia?” The pink-haired asked as she put the dryer down, putting her barrette and hair pin where she put them in her hair last night. “Why go there?”

“There’s a huge skating rink, a theater that’s got a ton of different movies, really good places to eat in and a nice arcade that’s got a ton of games.” Kyoko searched up what was available and what could be done at the mall months back, the information was practically burned into her memory. “There’re a few other things, but those are the ones I can list off my mind.”

Shinobu’s eyes shined for the first time since forever when she heard the words ‘arcade’ and ‘games’. She was still the same. Maybe. “Alright then.”

“We need to leave soon though, traffic gets really bad once it reaches the afternoon.” Kyoko stretched, sighing. “C’mon, your hair will dry naturally.”

Shinobu looked at her for a moment and exhaled. "Fine, I was done anyway.”

Kyoko smiled, everything was a little bit like before.

They went out after a quick breakfast at the small restaurant of the hotel, the food was free so they let themselves indulge in it. Shinobu's portions were a little less than Kyoko’s but it still made her smile.

The vocalist stretched, sighing as they walked out of the area. “So? Thoughts on the hotel food?”

“It’s fine, don’t hate it, but I don’t love it.” Shinobu answered with a shrug. Kyoko knew she was lying. “Let’s just go to that mall and get things over with.”

Kyoko’s chest tugged a little. Owch. “Mhm.”

They walked out of the air conditioned hotel lobby to a cloudy city view. The rain out of sight, the only evidence being the smell of wet sidewalks and wet vehicles.

“What the hell.” The DJ noted as she went to take off her jacket. “Is it just going to be like this our entire stay?”

“I guess, my dad did say that the weather here is pretty messed up.” Kyoko shrugged as she continued to walk. “But that won’t get us down! C’mon, let’s go before the seats on the bus get taken!”

She heard a sigh before footsteps followed behind her.

A few minutes later they managed to find a bus that was going to where they needed, letting the both of them let out a sigh of relief. There was an air conditioner in the bus.

“Once we arrive at Ep– uh, Epifanios um, de los Santos Avenue , we’re gonna walk for a bit, are you good with that?” Kyoko asked the DJ beside her, her eyes glued to the window as they rode through the streets.

“Uh yeah, sure.” Shinobu muttered as she still looked to the outside, her eyes unable to keep still as it moved from one thing to another, it made Kyoko smile softly.

“Just a few more minutes…” Kyoko sighed out before sinking into her seat.

“This is kind of unfair, don’t you think?” Esora pointed out. The sound of other arcade games being played almost made the complaint difficult to hear.

“What is?” Kyoko asked with a tilt of her head.

“The fact we’re gonna play a shooting game and the two girls who know this game personally are teamed up together?”

“Eh, deal with it.” Shinobu said with a shrug. “I don’t wanna work with anyone else.”

“Huuh? Don’t wanna work with me, Shinobu~?” Esora asked with a grin. “Not even Yuka~?”

“You’ll be fine, Yuka knows how to play this game, I played it with her before.”

“Whuh?” Esora turned to the blonde, her eyes similar to Vevo’s before, causing Yuka to turn away. “Yuka~?”

“I-I only managed a little, b-but we’ll be fine!! I think.”

While the other two spoke, Shinobu’s eyes wandered around. Kyoko followed where her eyes went, game settings to prizes.

“What are you looking at?” Kyoko asked, stopping her DJ from looking around.

“Huh? Ah, nothin’...” She walked toward the game, inserting a few tokens. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Ah… right.” Kyoko smiled, looking toward the other duo to see Esora walking toward the machine, clearly unsure of what was gonna happen. “Hey, Shinobu.”

The DJ turned to look at her. “Hm?”

“Let me have a try, I think it’d be really disheartening if Esora fought against you first.” Kyoko walked toward her, smiling.

Shinobu sighed. “Alright then, but don’t go easy on her.”

“What!?”

“Thank you!” Kyoko took Shinobu’s gun and position, with Esora holding the gun warily. “Sorry Esora, I gotta win for Shinobu.”

Esora pouted. “Fine, then this means I need to win for Yuka!”

“Ah…” Kyoko tried to form a quip, but the game started, what she thought of she had forgotten as soon as her finger met the trigger to start shooting.

“Go Esora~!” Yuka cheered, unable to do anything other than that. “Just keep calm!”

“I’m! Trying!” Esora yelled as a barrage of enemies appeared, Kyoko tried to get all of them for herself but the green-haired was still able to get some of her own.

“Hey, Esora.” Kyoko said as her gun fired. “Relax your hand.”

“Huh?” Esora turned to the brunette, but the sound of her character dying brought her attention back to the screen. “Shi– shoot! Kyoko!”

“Haha! Sorry, but what I said was true!”

“…ko.”

The arcade sounds disappeared. 

“Huh?”

“…yoko.”

The feeling of her finger on the trigger followed. Kyoko looked around, confused. The game was still on, Esora was still shooting, the enemies were still getting hit.

“Who’s…”

“Kyoko.”

She turned to her DJ and noticed she was–

“Oi.” Shinobu said with a glare. “Jeez….”

“Hm? Huh? Mm?” The vocalist rubbed her eyes to wake up, realizing she was in a bus instead of an arcade. It must’ve been the air conditioning.

“Don’t we need to be cautious?” The DJ asked, arms crossed tight. “And you’re the one who told me to not sleep.”

“Oh yeah… thanks.” The brunette cleared her throat, rubbing her chin to feel nothing damp – she didn’t drool – and continued trying to keep herself awake.

Maybe she didn’t get much sleep after all.

She continued staring, unsure of anything else to do, needing to be wary. 

“You slept well?” Shinobu asked, her words were muffled a little.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, it was fine.” Kyoko blinked a little bit more, her eyes almost dozed off again.

“That’s good.”

“Did you sleep well?”

"… It was fine.”

“Any… uh, nightmares?”

“… No.”

Kyoko glanced at the pink-haired, she couldn't even see her face in the window. “That’s good.”

They stayed silent a little more, the vocalist wore her sunglasses a few moments later, the light got brighter thanks to the parting clouds above.

Shinobu cleared her throat. “Hey, where are we going first?”

“Hm?

“Where are we going first? In the mall, I mean.”

“Oh, we’ll see when we get there.” Kyoko swore at the corner of her eye that Shinobu stiffened up. The DJ sighed.

“Okay.”

The ride stayed silent after that. The only sounds were those around them; Cars passing by, people muttering to each other, the sound of the radio playing a song Kyoko could vaguely translate.

She tried to focus on the song, trying to pick apart the words little to no avail. It kept her awake at least.

It was a love song. What kind, the brunette didn’t know. Was it unrequited? Or was it not? Was it forbidden instead? This was a secret she wanted to know.

She heard familiar words and phrases, words she has heard in other songs before. She could string together a few sentences, but most of them had missing words. She listened even more intently.

The bus halted, a sign that they have reached their stop, keeping Kyoko from listening for anything more.

The brunette gripped her bag. “We… we reached our stop.” A few people left the bus. They had the same destination as them.

“Hm? Ah, yeah.” Shinobu was typing on her phone again. Was she texting someone? Kyoko doubted it.

They walked out, the vocalist looked around, her sunglasses made looking around a little easier even as the sun glared at them. Now came the walking. Kyoko looked at the girl beside her, who was squinting.

She tried to reach her hand but stopped and went to tap her shoulder instead.

“Hm?” The pink-haired looked at her.

Kyoko smiled. “Follow me, we’re almost there.”

Shinobu huffed, but followed anyway. She had no other choices.

They arrived at the Mall of Asia after a grueling fight in summer like heat. It was like it never rained. When they saw the outside, the size still surprised them a little. The mall had its name in big letters right at the front, it stretched until it was out of view, people still moving in and out of it. The cold air that came from the inside made them want to go even more.

When they got through, Kyoko looked up and she had never felt so small ever since she was a kid. There were people everywhere. It was a Sunday, she expected many people, but the size still surprised her. It looked a little suffocating even though she had seen worse back in Japan. Good thing they weren’t here on the first of May.

She looked at the pink-haired, who was looking around as well. Her eyes darted around and already looked out of breath just from the sights alone.

Kyoko tried to reach for her but stopped. She decided to take off her sunglasses and tucked it on her shirt instead.

“Welp, let’s go!” Kyoko needed to force a smile, she had to, for Shinobu’s sake. “I hear there’s a lot of food here! Maybe after we check around the shops here and there we can get something to eat!”

Shinobu sighed, more a groan really. She followed behind the brunette. “Didn’t we just eat?”

“Yeah, but we might get hungry! It’d be good to know where’s what!” The vocalist hummed, looking up at the other two floors. “It’d be good to look around and stuff!”

“Fine.” Shinobu’s voice was a little quieter. Kyoko looked behind and stopped so Shinobu could catch up. “Wait, what did you say we could do here?”

Kyoko listed them off. “Ice skating, watch movies, eat food, shop and go to that arcade around here.” The pink-haired stared like she was trying to find something on her.

“That’s it?”

“Well, it is a mall, I wanted to go somewhere somewhat similar to something in Japan.” There was another reason, but the brunette kept that part to herself. She wanted to avoid that as much as possible on this trip.

“Can’t we go to the arcade first?” Shinobu asked. “I wanna play a game.”

“Sure! We can find it on the way!” Kyoko memorized what she could find in the mall, but not where. She wished all those months ago that she researched more.

The pink-haired sighed. “Fine. Let’s find it.”

“Yay!” Kyoko smiled, but Shinobu didn’t return one back. She put on her jacket instead. Kyoko decided to stop smiling at her after that.

The first place the vocalist wanted to check out was the food court, she needed to make sure she found some nice options for later when she got hungry. It was also for Shinobu to see if she wanted anything, but the brunette doubted it.

The first thing Kyoko wished she knew, however, was the fact that a lot of people had that exact idea.

There were families and such everywhere, all of them had different food from different stalls. The sound levels were different from when they arrived, it was filled almost to the brim with people. If she thought when they entered it was a little suffocating, this was.

Kyoko looked at her companion and noticed her expression. Her mouth hung open just a few, eyes didn’t dart around like a while ago and slouched as though a heavy weight rested upon her shoulders: It was anything but dread.

The DJ looked at Kyoko, but her eyes didn’t meet hers. “Are you sure you still want to check this out?”

She gulped. “Of course! No use backing out now!” Kyoko breathed in, then walked toward the food court. The amount of people didn’t change but the brunette still continued anyway.

“H-hey! Wait!” Shinobu followed along, footsteps barely audible over the sound of different conversations.

It hurt Kyoko’s head a little. The different words she understood and didn’t melded together, some of which might not have been Tagalog. It overwhelmed her with how fast they spoke. Most of the people here were locals unlike the brunette, she was half and didn’t even know how to speak properly until her college years.

“ Hurry up! ”

“ I don’t want to, you’re like a pájaro with orders… ”

“What time is it?”

“ So I’m like an amo!? ”

“ That’s fast! Son, you check it, your sister might be sinungaling. ”

“ No! That’s not what I’m saying! ”

“ Huh? Wait, dad. Um, she’s right, it’s around 4 in the afternoon. ”

Kyoko bumped into someone and saw it was a woman around her age. She was holding some food of her own, but none of them fell off her tray.

The brunette formed the words as fast as she could. “Um, s– uh, I-I'm sorry. ”

The woman looked at her for a moment and Kyoko could hear her mutter something under her breath. “ This tomboy I swear… ” She glared at Kyoko before showing her a smile. “ My food didn’t fall down so it’s okay. ”

The brunette smiled, trying to hide how her face felt like hiding under her hat. “Ahahah…” Kyoko decided to give the woman a nod and walked away as far as she could. She took off her hat and kept it in her bag, her eyes now used to the lights inside.

She looked over her clothes, confused. At least she didn’t say anything about being Japanese. That was one thing she was glad about. She had, perhaps, a few features that made her pass as a full Filipino.

She stopped and went to turn to her companion, curious if that woman whispered anything to her similar.

Maybe she noticed her discomfort.

“Hey, uh, are you…”

The mall turned cold.

Kyoko’s heart stopped beating.

She looked around the food court, any sign, just any sign. That annoyed look, that confused look of hers, anything that screamed it was her.

Shinobu wasn’t there.

“Sh-shit.”

Chapter Text

Kyoko grinned. Her eyes hidden under her cap. “Of course! No use backing out now!”

She started to walk, the distance was growing.

“H-hey! Wait!” Shinobu rushed, trying to catch up to Kyoko. The amount of people speaking in a language she didn’t understand in this part of the mall in particular was too much. She barely recovered from walking to the mall and now Kyoko was walking fast, did she always walk fast?

Shinobu didn’t like how similar this was to a dream– no, nightmare.

“Hey–” She tried to call, but Kyoko didn’t slow down.

The voices got louder, a certain one started to get louder compared to the others.

“Kyoko, wa–” She slammed into a person. Shocking even herself.

The person’s drinks spilled onto themself and a bit of Shinobu’s jacket. They looked at her, full of anger, then worry.

“Wha…” Shinobu gulped. She didn’t know what to do, she should’ve seen them. She barely spoke English and didn’t even know the basics of Tagalog. She was useless.

“ Okay ka lang, ate? ” They asked, she knew one word was English, everything else was unknown to her.

Her throat was tight. The sounds were louder with a heartbeat just as loud. “S… sorry. ” She decided to move past the person, not wanting to see the look in their eyes.

She caught her breath once the sounds were more bearable and less suffocating. Her heart was pumping as much as possible.

“…drats.” She straightened up, hiding her struggle of breathing. If Yuka were here, she would chastise Shinobu to start exercising again. She scoffed. Maybe she was busy hanging out with Esora.

Maybe laughing at them.

She looked around.

Kyoko left her.

No…

Kyoko lost her.

Shinobu looked over her phone and unlocked it. Her phone’s battery was an alright percentage even though she didn’t charge it, she doubted it would flatline anytime soon. Her hands were shaking. Must be the cold. The wifi was free so she connected immediately. She looked around herself for a moment, eyes scanning the area for a familiar hat. There was none.

The pink-haired looked down at her contacts. She looked over the one on her screen.

Kyoko Yamate.

She breathed in and hit the call button.

“Pick up I swear…” The pink-haired muttered.

Her phone continued to ring as Shinobu walked around to find her idiot companion.

Where was she?

“Hey! This is Kyoko Yamate! I’m probably busy or something, haha! Leave a–”

Shinobu stopped the call and looked over her phone.

Her eyes wanted to burn holes into the contact.

One more try.

She called again.

Her voice mail appeared.

She tried again.

But was met with the same answer.

She continued trying, again and again, but Kyoko didn’t answer.

She exhaled.

Shinobu looked up, a familiar yet unknown world.

She should sit and stay, but Kyoko said to explore the mall, right?

The brunette looked over her phone, foot tapping to no beat in particular.

It was flat-lined.

“Great.” Kyoko rubbed her eyes, trying to hold herself together. Shinobu was missing. In the stupidest way possible.

She felt so cold, was it the temperature? She didn’t care.

They never talked about where to meet, they never even talked about how they would contact each other if they ever lost each other.

They didn’t talk properly at all.

Kyoko looked around. Shinobu probably wasn’t in the food court anymore considering how long she spent just walking around trying to spot her, so she must be somewhere else. The brunette decided to look through the first floor, if Shinobu wasn’t there, she’d look around the second, then the third until she sees her.

If not then she was going to ask the mall to broadcast that she was missing and Kyoko was finding her.

Kyoko looked through the general stores first, eyes scanning people rather than the products. There weren't much foreigners now that she looked around, there were a few, but most of the mall goers were those that came from the country. The brunette paused to look at herself in the mirror, a frown was evident as well as her slightly furrowed eyebrows. After a few stores she continued looking through the isles, going to check products if she felt too suspicious. All of them looked a little bland.

During one of her searches she noticed there was a bright pink hamster with gold eyes looking right at her on one of the shelves. Kyoko smiled and took a picture of it. Maybe more than once.

Kyoko stepped out of the store, sighing. Maybe Shinobu turned into a hamster; the thought made herself laugh. But then she would be harder to find. Maybe it would be better if her companion stayed a human rather than a hamster.

The brunette closed her eyes, rubbing them.

She couldn't cry yet.

Where was she? What was she doing? Was she doing well on her own?

Was she safe?

Was she kidnapped?

That last thought made her hands shake even more.

Esora made those thoughts impossible, even when they went overseas she always made sure they were safe. She told Kyoko, no matter what, to always hold onto Shinobu.

There was an area where a few people were resting at, people of different ages sitting around to take a break from walking. Some were standing, some weren't. The brunette exhaled as she sat down beside a woman who looked to be around her early 20s. Her quads were aching as well as the soles of her feet; she was walking around for about an hour.

But she needed to find Shinobu.

The vocalist stood up, sighing and continuing her search again on the first floor.

She won’t take a break until she finds her.

She knew to not check food places, Shinobu said she wouldn't want to eat. The places she could check however were beauty salons, clothing stores and electronic shops. Most of the electronic shops were on the higher floors so she left them for last.

She looked through the clothing stores, maybe Shinobu started to like fashion. She noticed a few hats she thought looked interesting, but still continued looking through stores for her DJ. There were jackets she thought Shinobu would like, maybe even to the point she would buy it. The brunette smiled just thinking about that look in her eyes.

Kyoko continued to the second floor, she had a feeling that Shinobu wouldn't want to stay on the ground floor that long. Her hands were sweaty and her feet were aching under her shoes. When she arrived, she noticed there was the same type of stores. She sighed, still continuing on. Her eyes looked around each shop, one by one, never stopping. If something caught her eye she placed it in the back of her mind, if she saw something to show Shinobu she noted it for later when she found her.

She just wanted to show her around.

She looked over her necklace, the thin gold chain shined under the light. Shinobu had something similar as well. She recalled that her mother gave it to Shinobu and her as a gift, it was a little embarrassing, but it was one of the few necklaces Kyoko wore.

Why didn’t Shinobu just stay where she was? Wasn’t that one of the simple rules of when you get lost? Even as a child Kyoko knew that. But Shinobu was a grown woman, both of them are, and she shouldn’t have lost her anyway.

She stopped when she noticed a woman with short pink hair just a few steps away.

Kyoko took a step towards the woman, her voice ready to yell for her name.

The woman didn’t have some streaks of yellow.

Her stature was too tall for her companion.

Her clothes didn’t match.

Kyoko kept quiet and stood there as the woman went to check a beauty salon.

She rubbed her eyes, exhaling.

Shinobu should’ve just stayed put.

Maybe the DJ hated her, a voice whispered in the back of her head. The voice could be right, she did just drag her to another country, have an argument over something stupid and forced her to go to a mall the day after in the early morning. They barely had enough sleep. Kyoko recalled Shinobu saying she had a project she was working on. Did she disturb that too? The pink-haired did say something about how she was almost done…

Why did she even go on this trip in the first place? To take a break? But Shinobu wasn’t like that. She liked working until she felt satisfied with her work, even if that meant staying up for a concerning amount of time. What was she even doing for the project? Was it a solo album? A live show? A tour?

None of those sound like it.

Maybe she changed. Maybe Shinobu likes taking breaks now. Maybe Shinobu likes fashion, salons and exercising.

Maybe Shinobu isn't the same one Kyoko knew.

She gripped her necklace, continuing on as she stepped onto a random electronics shop. Her first one.

“Please be safe I swear….” She muttered before she started to look.

The brunette stepped off the escalator that led her to the third floor, eyes scanning the area. Her DJ was nowhere on the second. She continued looking still. She wouldn't be surprised if she found a few blisters on her feet. None of the shops had Shinobu. The products they sold looked interesting, but there was none she wanted to keep in mind for later. She spent most of her time in electronic shops, if she stayed a little longer, maybe her DJ will appear. It didn't work.

All that was left was one area Kyoko didn't step foot in.

“Arcade huh?” She muttered to herself. The sounds of games caught her ears. The probability of Shinobu being there was likely, too likely. An obvious fact.

Kyoko rubbed her face. Laughing in her head at her idiocy. She was an idiot.

She walked in, no hesitations. Why didn’t she check this place earlier? Why didn’t she go there straight away? This was Shinobu she was trying to search for, she wouldn’t ever stop by beauty salons, clothing stores or anything. If Shinobu liked fashion and beauty products she would've found her by now.

The first thing Shinobu would do when overseas was play games. She wouldn’t want to do anything else.

She walked around, eyes checking each game. Some were ones she wasn’t interested in, but there were some she wanted to play so badly if she didn’t want to find her companion.

She noticed a rhythm game where they had to press specific keys of a piano that appeared on a screen, reminding her of a time when she tried one with Shinobu and was left behind by her skills. The memory made her smile.

She hoped they could have something like that again.

There were other games, basketball games, racing games – the games she wanted to play – and a few odd ones like a fishing game and a few odd crane games. The fishing game in particular seemed to be an easy way to rack up tickets to exchange for prizes at the counter. Perhaps she should keep that in mind.

“ What the hell! They’re like a pro! ” She heard a complaint out of all of the game sound effects. She turned to the commotion.

There was a group of people surrounding a specific game. The sound effects of the game were made up of bullets and groaning dead people.

Kyoko decided to rush to the commotion.

Could it be?

It was mostly men that looked around their age who surrounded the area, there were some women but they must’ve been a few friends of some of the men there.

“ Haha! You’re losing, pare! ” One of the men exclaimed. “ And your opponent is a girl! The hell… ”

“ Oi, you’re so loud, can you shut up?! ” The man playing the game yelled back at who seemed to be his friend.

Kyoko tried to look again – why must she be shorter than some of them – and finally saw a hint of the two people playing. The man who just yelled was close to death while his opponent’s health was fine, Kyoko’s eyes drifted to the opponent and noted two things about her.

She had pink hair with streaks of yellow and a single barrette that stopped her hair from covering her eyes.

Kyoko couldn’t stop the excitement that burned within.

A few seconds later, her opponent’s character finally died. His friends laughed while some of the women complained or groaned. Kyoko wanted to yell out in excitement when his character died.

“ Good game. ” The man muttered, his words English rather than the native tongue. Kyoko could barely hear it over the other conversations his friends were having. Something about how he had to pay them to a restaurant and how he pathetically lost to his opponent.

“ No problem. ” His opponent said, English as well, the final clue to Kyoko’s suspicion. That tone, that small hint of smug.

The crowd soon left, the pink haired sighed once they left her, stretching and clicking joints around her body.

“Can I play a game with you?”

She looked at Kyoko confused before an awkward smile crept up and furrowed her eyebrows. “K-Kyoko?”

“Um, yeah, haha.” Kyoko smiled. Was that the right thing to do? She decided to stop smiling. “I-I’m sorry I lost you, Shinobu. I got so caught up by the atmosphere and I didn’t realize it until you were gone.”

Shinobu looked around, her eyes were about to meet Kyoko before the brunette looked down at the floor. “Can… can we talk about this… uh, not here?”

“Ah! Y-yeah, sorry.” Kyoko couldn’t look up, she didn’t want to look at her.

She followed her shoes until they stopped at a quieter part of the mall, there were less people compared to the arcade.

“So, uh…” Shinobu shifted her weight, her right foot rested while her left carried her weight. “Why… why didn’t you answer my call?”

Kyoko bit the inside of her cheek. She didn’t want to tell Shinobu her dumb reason. ”Because my, um, phone is… dead.”

Shinobu stayed silent. “Why didn’t you charge it?”

“H-how? I don’t have my charger with me right now!”

“Well, I dunno, but there might be charging spots and stuff here, right?” Shinobu sighed. “It’s a mall, so I expect there might be places to charge your phone and stuff here…”

Kyoko recalled her search of the floors, she could’ve sworn that she saw something like that. “H-hey, I was too busy thinking you got kidnapped, okay!?” She looked up at the DJ, who had an eyebrow raised.

“Me? Kidnapped? Why would someone kidnap me?” Shinobu crossed her arms.

Kyoko didn’t want to tell her she was spiraling. “Because! Anything can happen overseas!”

“I guess.” Shinobu’s hands went to retreat in her pockets. “I’m also at fault, so don't blame yourself. I should’ve just waited, but I decided to move while I called you. That was… pretty dumb of me.”

Kyoko's fingers pressed against each other, Shinobu's shoes dug into the floor. The far away sounds of people kept their atmosphere going.

“Both of us are kinda dumb, huh?” Kyoko joked with a light chuckle. “I swear, we’re useless without Yuka and Esora.”

Shinobu sighed. “If Esora heard that, we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“True.” Kyoko couldn’t stop herself from grinning. “I wish they were here."

Shinobu stretched, exhaling. “Yeah.”

They stayed silent.

What else was there to talk about?

Kyoko knew one topic, but she wasn’t sure if Shinobu wanted to talk. She was adamant yesterday, but she could’ve changed her mind now.

The brunette kept it at the back of her mind, the far depths. “Oh yeah, Shinobu, can I play a few rounds with you in that game?”

“Huh?”

“That game you played, I wanna play it with you.” Kyoko took out her hat from her bag and showed Shinobu a smile as she put it on. A genuine smile. “It looks fun!”

The pink haired looked away, contemplating Kyoko’s suggestion. “Sure, but you gotta pay.”

The brunette shrugged. “Fine by me!”

“With how much money you’re using, I’m concerned for our tickets to go home….”

“Don’t worry about it! We’ll be fine!” Kyoko laughed as they both made their way back to the arcade. “Esora's gonna cover it!”

Shinobu sighed. “Of course she is….”

They didn’t need to talk about it right now.

For now, Kyoko was going to enjoy her time with Shinobu. And when they were ready, they were going to talk it out.

Chapter Text

“Really? Keychains? We could literally buy this back home.” Shinobu complained as they looked around the prizes behind the counter, looking at the many prizes they could possibly choose. They managed to obtain a lot of points for just playing that fishing game over and over again with a few plays of the basketball games and shooting games.

Kyoko gestured to the different prizes. Some were plushies – either objects or animals – and some were keychains and clothes. “What? It’s free! Might as well do something with what we got!” She smiled at the DJ. “Which one do you want?”

Shinobu sighed, looking over each design. “Uh, I guess that one.” She pointed to the keychain with a little hamster snacking on a seed. “Cute, right?”

“Yeah yeah, sure…” Kyoko gave her a smirk before she started snickering.

Shinobu huffed, her cheeks felt a little red. “Oi, you got a problem with me picking a hamster?!” It was just a hamster, she reminded herself; she continued. “Whatever, what are you getting?”

“Hmm….” Kyoko looked over the keychains again. “I want the one that looks like Vevo!”

The DJ looked through the keychains again and noticed a little german shepherd that had a cap on. “Vevo?” She had to get it, actually.

“It’s perfect, right?” The vocalist was grinning; a little obnoxious, really.

Shinobu pushed Kyoko forward before the poor prize giving guy got bombarded by little kids and their relatives again. “Alright, go ask for it.”

"Hey, Shinobu!" Kyoko complained, about add one more complaint to say before she noticed she was right in front of the man.

His tone tried to hide the exhaustion on his face. “ Anong prize po sa inyo? ”

“Ah, um…” Kyoko paused for a moment, her eyes moving from the guy to the keychains. Her hands gripping on the piles of tickets in her arms. “ Yung keychain na aso nakasuot ng sumbrero at yung hamster din na meron buto sa bibig. ”

The worker moved fast – Shinobu winced at the sound of a child screeching – and handed the keychains to the brunette. “ Yan lang? ”

“ Ahhh, ano, yung… ” Kyoko turned to Shinobu. “What do you want?”

Shinobu blinked, she was trying to tune out the screaming child. “Huh?”

“What do you wanna get? Quick.” Kyoko jerked her head to the prizes again.

Shinobu’s eyes looked around as fast as they could. “Um…” She noticed something she couldn’t pass up. The price was the exact amount of their leftover tickets too. “Get that one over there with the guns.”

“Seriously?” Kyoko looked at the area, noticing what she was referring to.

Shinobu smiled. “You asked what I want to get, get that one. C’mon.”

“Alright, alright.” Kyoko shook her head with a chuckle. ”Yung dilaw palaka na parang puppet .”

The man simply nodded and picked up the puppet, causing another child to start wailing. The duo took it as a sign to take their leave from the arcade once they got their prizes.

Shinobu looked over the frog puppet that was handed to her, grinning.

Kyoko looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “So, why did you get this again?”

“Souvenir for the two idiots.” Shinobu replied simply as she kept the frog in her bag. “Might as well get them something if their plan for whatever they’re doing fails. They can call it Yuka-tan or something, uh, Yu-chan? Yuka-pi? Yukkan? I dunno. They can use it for Jenny and Esoran or something.”

Kyoko laughed. “Are you saying that you basically got Esoran a partner?”

“I guess.” Shinobu shrugged. “I think they’ll like it.”

Kyoko showed her a smile before replying with, “Okay.” They walked, now unsure of where to go next. Shinobu didn’t really take note of shops she wanted to check since she got so busy with trying to find the arcade. She turned to Kyoko, about to ask before her stomach made a sound. “Oh.” Kyoko grinned at her. “You want to find somewhere to eat? I saw a few restaurants around we could eat in.”

Shinobu looked away from Kyoko, her face felt a little red. “We could check some, I guess. I don’t really want to go out in the heat when I’m hungry.”

“Alright, cool! I got a place in mind we can check.” Kyoko’s eyes shined before she grabbed the DJ’s wrist, leading her to the restaurant she wanted to show her. “It’s really good, trust me! It’s a few walks away!”

Shinobu tried her best to catch up with the vocalist’s movements, she was afraid they would trip each other up. Maybe she’ll trust her food choices for the day. Kyoko knew what she liked…

Shinobu didn’t care to voice the fact she might’ve forgotten.

They took the two escalators down to the first floor, with the pink-haired being nervous about where Kyoko was taking her. What if it had a bunch of vegetable options instead? No, Kyoko wouldn’t forget. Right? She could handle vegetables a little now – thanks to Yuka and Ibuki – but she still disliked green bell peppers.

Shinobu looked to the floor until Kyoko stopped. She looked up to see a bright red establishment. She was starting to get a feel for what the country’s favorite color is.

Kyoko turned to her, eyes shining.

“Let’s go!” Kyoko opened the door, there was air conditioning, which was one thing Shinobu was relieved about. They looked around, trying to find a nice place to sit. The pink-haired noticed there was a free spot close to the window, and she tugged on Kyoko’s wrist.

She noticed how intimate it looked and let go of her hand. “Uh, I’m gonna save us a seat, you order us something, okay?”

“Hm? Ah, okay.” Kyoko walked toward the small line to the cash register while Shinobu stiffly walked to the free seats she found. No one would know what they’re saying, yet she knew there were a few eyes on her.

Shinobu shook her head, noticing her sister sent a message to her a few hours before.

Yaro: how’s the trip? was the flight ok?

The DJ glanced up at Kyoko, who was still ordering the food. Shinobu looked down, back to her phone.

Shinobu: flight was shit, do not recommend going on a private jet ride lol

She didn’t expect a quick reply.

Yaro: damn, alright

Yaro: bring souvenirs, okay? grandpa wants something bc u left him (also me)

The DJ rolled her eyes.

Shinobu: k k 👍

Yaro: how’s kyoko?

Shinobu glanced at Kyoko, who was still ordering. She didn’t really know how to answer her sister’s question. Kyoko was really worried for her because she got lost or Kyoko was happy she managed to find her and play games with her. Both were true, but they were both things she didn’t want to type out.

Shinobu: she’s fine.

Kyoko sat down opposite the pink-haired as she placed down what seemed to be their table number and clapped her hands. “So! I ordered myself a three pointer cause it looks really good with iced tea and I got you a boneless fried chicken sandwich with Royal, both drinks regular-sized, is that okay?”

“Ro… wait, did you order me some fries?” Shinobu asked, closing her phone and glancing at the menu.

The brunette nodded. “Of course, just the seasoned ones though, no sauce.” The brunette took off her hat, sighing. “I know you take a while when you eat fries.”

Shinobu forced down a smile. She did remember. “Thanks, I guess.”

They stayed quiet, fidgeting with the tissues or their sleeves.

“Um.” Kyoko began looking over their table number. “How… who were you talking to?”

Shinobu glanced up at her, looking at the brunette’s ear piercings rather than her eyes. “Yaro.”

“Oh, is she doing okay?” Kyoko’s hands started to rub against each other, the temperature wasn’t even that cold.

Shinobu looked over her phone, the lights made the screen shine. “Yep, she’s watching over grandpa.”

“Why is she watching him?” Kyoko’s voice was soft and hesitant. She looked nervous to ask a question involving anything involving Shinobu’s family. “Did…”

“He got really ill a few weeks before. I asked her to watch over him while I’m on this trip.” Shinobu replied calmly. She didn’t raise her voice, she didn’t scream.

Kyoko’s shoulders relaxed. She seemed to smile for a moment. “That’s nice.”

“Yeah.” Shinobu looked to the floor, noticing an almost wiped away stain. She sighed. “By the way, why did you choose this place?”

Kyoko laughed, her face matched the interior of the building for a moment. “Uh, burgers? Pretty much? Also because this looked most okay for your tastes.”

“Alright then.” Shinobu looked out the window, noticing the smoke that came out of the vehicles. The sun was bright and the glare was terrible.

Kyoko’s hand tapped on Shinobu’s, the DJ looked at her hat before noticing the sunglasses that were on her shirt were now in her hand. “Here, you can use it.”

“Won’t your eyes hurt or something?” Shinobu looked over the sunglasses, her hand didn’t want to move.

The brunette shook her head. “No, I don’t mind at all, it’s okay. I have my hat, you need it more.”

“Thanks.” Shinobu wore them, her world suddenly dimmer and a dark orange. It calmed the sting in her eyes. She stopped squinting.

They looked around, pointing out little things happening outside the mall. It was mostly Kyoko, with Shinobu only humming and nodding along with her words. She wasn’t in the mood for this kind of talk. Kyoko stretched after a while, the buzz of people grew as a group of people walked in. Shinobu glanced at the group, noticing the way they spoke was lively and a bit loud.

The brunette was looking at them as well, she seemed to be translating their conversations in her mind. “Ahh, reunion.”

“Aren’t you being a bit nosy if you’re translating their conversations?” Shinobu asked, a little unenthused about their food that hasn’t arrived.

Kyoko’s eyebrows furrowed, then she smiled. “Didn’t you want to know? Everyone here can understand them, if I didn’t translate it, you’d be the only one left out.”

“Whatever.” Shinobu sighed, turning away from Kyoko to look toward the orange street. It looked like the sun was setting. She heard a sigh escape from the vocalist’s lips.

Kyoko’s finger then appeared on the window, tapping at the glass as she pointed toward the streets. “By the way, there’s an aquarium nearby, wanna check it out?”

“Maybe next time.” The pink-haired pushed up the sunglasses, they were fit for someone that wasn’t her. “I’m feeling a bit drained.”

Shinobu saw at the corner of her eye Kyoko’s head nod. “Alright then.” Her finger went out of view, the streets had cars passing almost every minute. “Shinobu.”

“What?” The DJ finally looked at Kyoko, her eyes were dark orange, her hair was dark orange. But she felt she could stare at her properly now.

Kyoko twirled her hair, almost seeming to be finding an excuse before sighing. “What was that project you were working on?”

“That? It’s nothing, just something for fun.” Shinobu replied after almost spilling out that it was none of Kyoko’s business. People may not understand her, but they know what a person sounded like when they’re angry. The DJ’s eyes started to turn to the employees scrambling behind the counter.

Kyoko opened her mouth, but then closed it. She furrowed her eyebrows before saying, “How many songs?”

“Huh?” Shinobu looked back at the vocalist.

Kyoko sighed. “How many songs have you made for the project?”

“It’s… just one.” Shinobu turned to the table. “I’m… the lyrics aren’t finished yet.”

The brunette’s hands went close to the pink-haired’s, but stopped when her pinky was close. “Alright then.”

“Does it take this long for the food to arrive?” Shinobu wanted the conversation to stay far from her song. “I’m starting to get a little hungry.”

Kyoko looked back at the workers. “Just be patient, it’s coming in a bit.”

“Fine.” Shinobu opened her phone and started to scroll through Digitter. Everyone else was having a fun time. Yuka made a post about an upcoming gallery of hers while Nagisa was rambling on about food she wanted to eat. Just the mention of food made Shinobu glance up and notice an employee walking toward her and Kyoko’s table. They were holding a tray filled with food that made her mouth water.

The employee said something the DJ couldn’t understand, but Kyoko replied with a smile. She turned to the DJ, rubbing her hands as she grinned at the food.

Kyoko moved the fries and one of the drinks to Shinobu’s side and moved her own order to her. She grabbed the burger and paused when she noticed Shinobu staring with her sunglasses on. “Uh, let’s eat!”

“Let’s eat.” Shinobu took one fry, feeding into her mouth as Kyoko bit into her burger. A smile crept up the vocalist’s face as she chewed.

She swallowed, a few bits of the ingredients were stuck on her face. “It’s good! Wanna try?”

“No thanks, I’m fine.” Shinobu didn’t want to take away Kyoko's enjoyment of her burger. She went to drink her soda, the familiar fruit flavor pulled up the corners of her mouth. Orange soda never misses, no matter where she goes.

They ate quietly, too busy enjoying the food they ordered. Shinobu liked how salty the fries were, she didn’t even want to use any of the small ketchup packets. Kyoko was especially enjoying her food, Shinobu was only a quarter through her fries and the vocalist was already done with her burger. She finished her drink just as Shinobu finished half.

The DJ passed the fries to Kyoko. “Have some.”

“Hm?” Kyoko looked over the fries, her hands were a few centimeters off. “You don’t want it?”

Shinobu shook her head. “No, I just want you to try.”

“Alright then.” The vocalist took one and popped it into her mouth. She chewed a little before swallowing. She hummed. “That is good, can I have some more?”

Shinobu forced down a smile that started to form. “Go ahead, I don’t mind.” She lowered her volume when she added, “I knew you’d like it anyway.”

“What was that, Shinobu?” Kyoko leaned a little closer as she fed a fry to herself. Shinobu pulled back a little.

The DJ turned to the window. The cars were moving pretty slow during the traffic. “Nothing, just thinking out loud.”

“Okay then.” Kyoko continued nibbling on the fries. Shinobu glanced down and held back on getting one of the fries Kyoko reached for. She went to drink her soda instead.

The people that went to the restaurant to have a reunion were loud. There were a few couples present. Shinobu couldn’t understand anything, but she knew what teasing someone over getting engaged sounded like; she did that just a couple weeks ago. She smiled when she heard people hollering and starting singing a song she had a feeling was important to whoever the couple was.

Shinobu opened her mouth to ask Kyoko if her guess was right, but held her tongue. She was staring right at her. Even with the orange filter of the sunglasses, Kyoko’s eyes were still pretty.

Shinobu glanced down, noticing the fries were gone. “Uh, you done?”

“Yeah, how’s your drink?” Kyoko shook hers for emphasis. She didn’t notice her staring.

Shinobu shook her cup, hearing the telltale sign of liquid sloshing around. “Still got some.”

“Gotta finish it quick, you might spill it on the way back to the hotel.” The vocalist stretched her arms up, sighing when she set them down. “Don’t wanna stain your clothes.”

Shinobu sucked on the straw, the orange soda was warmer than a while ago. “Okay.”

“I’ll go use the restroom really quickly, be right back.” Kyoko shuffled out of the booth, making her way to the restrooms.

Shinobu groaned, burying her head into her arms. It was only the first day of their trip. It was miserable. Shinobu didn’t even want to do the math for how many more hours she had to spend with Kyoko. She unlocked her phone and went to her contact. She looked over Kyoko’s, noticing the messages before the vocalist reached out to her.

The DJ closed her eyes and left the app. Her insides twisted, throat tight. She decided to drink all of her soda in one go as she shut her eyes. Shinobu shut her phone, she couldn’t look at those messages any longer. She first saw them when it was too late to reply. Now, she didn’t even know what she would say.

She sighed. “Hell.”

“I’m back!” Kyoko declared as she walked up to the DJ. Shinobu would’ve screamed if she wasn’t in public. “You finished your soda?”

Shinobu nodded, slipping her phone in her pocket. “Yeah, just… need to use the restroom, you fix up the trays and stuff, sorry.”

“No problem.” Kyoko showed her a smile as she rushed to use the restroom.

The DJ did need to use the restroom, but what she needed most was cold water on her face. She finished using the restroom, took off the sunglasses Kyoko gave her and started to splash water onto her face. Her head buzzed with some energy, even if it wasn’t much, it was enough. Slightly. Shinobu looked over the mess that was looking right at her, unable to believe that mess was herself. Everything was a cold blue, the fluorescent lights didn’t help much.

She grimaced and put on her sunglasses, now everything was warm orange. She left the restroom and relaxed her face. Kyoko was looking at her with a smile. The DJ kept her hands in her jacket pockets to clench her fists.

The vocalist opened the door for her with that smile again. That smile was stupidly kind. “After you!”

“Thanks.” Shinobu tried to form a smile, but it turned into a grimace instead. She looked away, her hands oddly cold. The mall was still thriving even when the sun was setting, it was a little shocking.

They continued walking silently, Kyoko was oddly keeping her pace with the DJ. Shinobu knew she was slowing down her walking speed for her.

The shorter girl opened her mouth to speak before Kyoko handed a familiar can to her. She knew it was meant to be red, but her sunglasses didn’t show the familiar hue. “An apology gift, take it.”

“Jeez…” Shinobu snapped it open and took a few sips. They were back in the summer-like heat. “I’m over that already, you don’t need to overcompensate. Didn’t you tell me to not drink during the ride?”

Kyoko spoke up when they arrived at a red pedestrian light. “I trust you. The soda’s a thank you.”

Shinobu took a sip of her drink instead of asking what she meant by that. The light turned green, forcing them to continue walking.

Shinobu looked over the little hamster keychain in her hand as she lay on her bed, now changed to something more comfortable. She wasn’t wearing sunglasses anymore since the sun went down and the windows were closed. It took them a little to go back (Kyoko wasn’t kidding when she said traffic was terrible) and the heat didn’t help much, good thing they took the bus again. The ride back was a slog of boredom. The people outside looked more worried about their next destination than looking at the beautiful orange sky.

The hotel room was quiet, unlike the outside. The cleanliness was similar to a hospital, the smell was vanilla. It looked as though there was no one living inside yet their belongings around the room told otherwise. The walls were a pale white but they had a hint of orange because of the warm lights.

Like the DJ’s home, in a way.

Shinobu shook her head. “Oh yeah, what did that kid yell awhile ago?”

“Hm?” Kyoko, who was sitting on her bed with her fully charged phone, looked at her. Her clothes were casual wear as well.

The DJ held in a sigh and could feel she was scowling a little. “That kid? In the arcade? What did that kid say when the guy was giving you the keychains?”

“Ahhh, that kid…” Kyoko hummed for a moment. “Something like ‘I wanted that one’ and then just wailed as kids do.”

“Oh, okay.” Shinobu put the hamster on her bedside table close to where the sunglasses were kept and her phone was charging. “You’re more fluent in Tagalog than before, by the way.”

Kyoko coughed. Did she inhale air wrong? “Am I really? Doesn’t feel like it.”

“You are.” Shinobu could recall Kyoko and her father talking to each other. It was weird hearing another language come from her father a few times just for Kyoko to reply in Japanese. “You could only speak Japanese with your dad right? Now you can hold conversations in his language and stuff.” She didn’t want to give more praise, but she did recall that the vocalist managed to hold a whole conversation with that taxi driver.

The DJ could’ve sworn in the corner of her eye Kyoko started twirling her dyed hair. “Thanks.” When she looked, the vocalist stopped. Must’ve been her imagination.

“Where are we going next, by the way?” Shinobu looked up at the ceiling, not wanting to look at Kyoko’s red tips any longer.

The vocalist hummed again. “Tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” The DJ had a feeling in her gut that said Kyoko was just making things up as they go.

There was a clunk on Kyoko’s bedside table. It was her phone. “Why don’t we walk around the area? Just relax.” She climbed off her bed, waving her arms around to stretch. “I think it’d be nice. If we ever get tired we can just come back here and chill.”

“Sure, sounds good.” Shinobu had to hold down a smile.

The brunette stretched her legs, the DJ heard clicks. “Cool!” Kyoko sighed. “I’m gonna sleep now, what about you?”

“I’m… gonna stay up a little longer.” Shinobu glanced at her luggage as she spoke, she remembered something she brought.

The brunette raised an eyebrow but shrugged. “Alright then, suit yourself.” She went to the window to pull the curtain to hide the view and climbed back into her bed. “Don’t stay up for too long.”

“Mhm.”

“Good night, Shinobu.” Kyoko turned the other way, the window, as she yawned.

Shinobu looked over the lump that was her companion. She let the faint city ambience fill the air. “Good night, Kyoko.”

The DJ didn’t receive a reply.

She walked to her bag, hands buzzing when she saw her laptop. She took it along with her headphones and set herself up on her bed. She needed to do something about this itch she had. She needed to release this buzz bouncing around her blood.

She didn’t want to play games, she knew this, she just played some a few hours ago. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to people, she was excited but not to talk. Talking was exhausting, if anyone back home knew she was staying up they might tell her to sleep, forever taking away the one chance of something she had.

What was she feeling?

Shinobu noticed what was on her laptop screen as she thought.

It was her music software.

She blinked for a moment.

She looked over her phone and the notebook in her bag. Maybe, just maybe, this time it will work. The DJ exhaled, moving off the bed to get the notebook and pen she brought with her.

Time seemed to slow down.

“We should go with these kinds of songs, not those. It’d be better if we start off low then slowly build it up from there.” Shinobu tsked as she pointed to her laptop. “I thought you of all people would know by now.”

Kyoko sighed, stepping a few steps from the booth. “C’mon, we obviously have to start off with a bang! This is our last live here in Yoba, think about how everyone else feels.”

“I am and we should start slowly; if we start slowly, the end of the performance will hit harder and people won’t get swept up.” Shinobu scratched the back of her neck, her headphones hitting her back. “Do I really need to make a set to show you?”

Kyoko adjusted her newly trimmed hair; she did it last week. “No, starting off strong then ending it off slow will make the performance hit harder! It will make our last live sad but also memorable!”

“But that wouldn’t work performance wise, you’d be lowering the mood. Wouldn’t it be better if we just ended it high so the goodbye can be happy?” Shinobu felt a headache coming.

Kyoko opened her mouth to speak before Esora tutted the both of them, just finishing her water break. “I swear, should we really be changing the setlist now? The live show is a few weeks away, considering the importance and size of this show, we shouldn’t really be changing up the setlist with only a few weeks away. There isn’t much time left.”

“Esora’s right.” Yuka added, walking toward both of them. “If we change the setlist, we need to change the choreography. If you want to change it that bad because both of your ideas are good, I think we need to talk about this as a whole. It’s just like what we did with our costumes and stage design and hey, they turned out amazing!”

Kyoko and Shinobu look at them for a moment before releasing heavy sighs.

“Fine, jeez.”

“Okay.”

Esora rubbed her forehead, resting on Yuka’s side. “I swear, I thought you’d stop fighting now….”

Shinobu shrugged. “Old habits die hard, you know.”

“That’s a bad thing, you know that, right?” Esora said as she gave them an exhausted look. “You two should really talk things out like adults.”

Shinbou huffed. “Yeah, yeah whatever.”

“So, what do you two want to do?” Yuka asked before noticing Shinobu starting to open her mouth. “You go first, Kyoko.”

The brunette scratched the back of her head as the DJ tsked. “I… want the live show to be memorable.”

“And how do you want that to happen?” Yuka asked again, arms crossed. Her voice was never judgemental nor condescending.

“I want to make it start off really strong! But… then slowly mellows out to our slower songs; it’s like a bittersweet ending to our time in Yoba!” Kyoko smiled. “We made our greatest moment happen and I think ending it on a low note shows that we’ll miss them too once we leave.” The vocalist laughed. “I know it's not how we usually do things but because it’s something we don’t do much, it’ll make it memorable! It’s a gamble I’m willing to take!”

Yuka nodded with a small smile. “I see… I see…” She turned to Shinobu. “What about you, Shinobu?”

“How do you want this live show to be?” Esora asked, an odd seriousness present in her eyes.

Shinobu looked at both of them before sighing. “Well, starting off slow feels… like.” The DJ sighed, hiding her mouth with her face. “It’s like, reminding them that we’ll be going. It’s sad, but then we start building the mood, make it more upbeat, so it’s like… ‘Yeah we’re leaving, but remember how… how great our performance is’, you know? Make it memorable for how hype the performance is.” The DJ took her hand off, looking toward the floor. “Because… I don’t want it to be a sad goodbye. Or whatever.”

“See!” Yuka grinned. “All of us want this show to be amazing and memorable for our fans, especially you two. But don’t forget we’re here, we want this to be good too.”

Esora cleared her throat. “You two are good at watching each other when you guys tunnel vision, but sometimes you enable each other and do it together. It’s kind of cute, but please remember that Yuka and I exist too~” Esora’s words made Kyoko and Shinobu turn a bright red. “Why don’t we stay over at Shinobu’s place? Like that one time? Not only does it let Shinobu work without bringing all of her equipment, but it also lets us give input into the set.”

“Ooh, good idea, Esora!” Yuka showed a thumbs up. “What do you think, you two?”

Kyoko’s eyes shined. “I don’t mind! What about you, Shinobu?”

“Me too, I guess.” Shinobu shrugged. “Good luck trying to keep up with my late-night habits, though. Especially you, Esora.”

“I sleep early so it doesn’t ruin my complexion and sleeping habits, unlike you.” Esora crossed her arms. “It doesn’t match well with my lovely face~”

“Who cares? Everyone has some sort of amount of eyebags.” Shinobu pointed to the tall blonde beside the green-haired. “Even Yuka has some eyebags going on.”

Yuka huffed, her cheeks a little red. “B-but I only do it when it’s necessary, not every weekend!”

“Hey, I think I can catch up just fine!” Kyoko pouted. “I managed to stay up with you a few weeks ago!”

“That was only possible because I kept on shaking you awake.”

“Hey!”

Their laughter filled the practice room, Shinobu felt some tears well up in the corner of her eyes because of it. She wiped them away, the tears formed without a sign of stopping.

She opened her eyes, looking up at the blurred ceiling of the hotel room. A familiar pain in her neck was present and the bed enveloping her entire body.

Ah.

Shinobu wiped away the tears and went to turn on the light on her bedside table. Her laptop was on top of it as well as her headphones. She raised an eyebrow, shrugged and looked at the time on her phone.

4:10 AM

She sighed, but shook it off. She looked to the bed beside her. She could hear the soft sounds of someone breathing.

It calmed her heart a little.

The DJ fought her way off the bed, her arms and legs ached. She stopped in front of her luggage and looked through her clothes. After getting new clothes to wear (she separated the ones she used yesterday in a different compartment of her luggage) the DJ went to the bathroom, the door clicking.

She left her clothes in the unused sink as she undressed herself. The usual routine. She got dressed once she finished drying up after showering, hot water pressed the feeling of warmth into cold skin. The DJ looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was still a mess after she brushed it as she went to put on her hair clip and barrette. Her eye bags looked terrible. Shinobu popped open the small tube of concealer before she recalled something that peeved her. She sighed, putting a small amount on her hand and started to rub it. She wasn’t good at colors, but she wasn’t that bad; she’s been doing this for a few years now.

After she triple-checked she put the concealer well enough Shinobu applied the foundation – she was thankful for one thing her sister and Esora taught her – to ensure it looked good. She moved her face around, studying how well it blended with her skin to ensure she needed to adjust it again.

The DJ walked out, noticing that Kyoko was sitting on her bed, hair a mess and yawning. Shinobu would’ve smiled at her if she didn’t hold it down.

“Morning.”

“Hm? Ah, you got ready already? Damn…” Kyoko reached for her phone, rubbing her eye as she looked at her home screen. “Ano– Sh-Shinobu, it’s just 4:45! The sun’s just starting to rise! Why are you ready?”

The pink-haired hummed before shrugging as an answer. “I dunno. Earlier the better? You told me that before.”

“This is what…” The brunette slammed her head into the pillow before Shinobu could even hear the last part of her complaint. The DJ let herself smile a little at that. Kyoko’s head lifted up, eyes still trying to wake up; Shinobu forced herself to frown. “Gimme five minutes.”

The DJ raised an eyebrow, hoping she didn’t have a smile on her face. “Five minutes for what?”

“Getting energy.” Kyoko dropped her head onto the pillow again. “I got terrible sleep.”

Shinobu made her way to her laptop and headphones on the bedside table, putting her headphones back in her bag. “You can say shit, you know. Your mom and dad aren’t here.”

“ Wala! Akong! Pake! ” The vocalist yelled before resting her head on the pillow again.

Shinobu sighed before she sat at her bed, looking at Kyoko still simmering on hers. “What does that mean?”

“It means, ‘I don’t care’.” She said as she turned away from Shinobu.

“Ahh.”

They stayed silent. Shinobu just stared at Kyoko, who continued to get an extra five minutes of shut eye. The DJ swore if she touched the brunette’s shoulder, she would feel like cold glass that could break.

Shinobu looked over her phone, noticing the time. “Okay, your five minutes are done, get up.” Then came a groan from Kyoko as a reply. The pink-haired got ready to scold her, but the vocalist was already sitting up.

“What street food do you want to try?” Kyoko asked as she stood up to do a few stretches. “Got any that caught your eye yesterday?”

Shinobu looked over her phone; no texts from her sister. “Nah, not really, you can just give me ones you think will taste good.” She sighed.  “Unless you think all of the street food here won’t be very good for my tastes.”

“I think I can find something you’ll like.” The brunette grinned as she spoke, making her way to open the lights that blinded Shinobu for a moment. “I managed yesterday.”

“Bet.” Shinobu declared with a grin that matched Kyoko’s.

The vocalist picked up clothes that were sitting on the table, confusing the DJ for a moment. “Fine by me.”

Kyoko made her way to the bathroom as Shinobu looked at the clothes she was holding in confusion. Shinobu woke up before Kyoko, but she already had her clothes ready. She recalled how her laptop and headphones were sitting on the bedside table.

The DJ tsked, looking over her laptop. She opened it, noticing how it wasn’t shut down; good thing it had a good battery. She noticed that her software was open, scaring the DJ for a moment as she went looking through for any adjustments. There weren’t any. Shinobu saved the song – just in case – before shutting off her laptop.

She went to her bag, keeping it there for safekeeping.

Shinobu walked toward the window, moving the curtains to see the city still blanketed with darkness. The lights were blinding, different hues bounced off each other at each surface area of every building and advertisement that emitted light. There were faint sounds of the vehicles below them that went to the left or right of the pink-haired. It was almost as though it was still night.

The DJ reached out to the glass, flinching at the temperature. Cold.

Shinobu hid the view with the curtains, not wanting people to see her inside. She turned back to sit back down on her bed, sinking into it. She looked to the bathroom door; Kyoko was still taking a shower.

Maybe she can busy herself with some games.

She entered a random lobby, not really caring for her opponents’ skill levels yet. She needed to gauge the playing field. The DJ went into a game, then everything else was on autopilot. Every situation Shinobu knew the solution to occurred. She wasn’t surprised she was the winner of the match. She continued to busy herself with a few matches on her phone, waiting for Kyoko to finish showering. It was either because the game wasn’t that popular in the Philippines or the competition was just that weak, but she was on a roll with her wins.

“You won?” Kyoko asked, the DJ screamed and dropped her phone on her bed when she noticed the vocalist was sitting on her bed already wearing her shoes, hat and bag. “Relax, Shinobu.”

The pink-haired exhaled, keeping her phone in her pocket. “Don’t do that ever again, jeez.”

“Ask if you won?” Kyoko chuckled, standing up. “Joke, I know what you mean.”

The DJ glanced over at her shoes. She didn’t put them on yet. “Whatever, let’s go already.”

“Are you excited?” The brunette asked as Shinobu went to put them on. She was holding her sunglasses. “To go out and try food, I mean.”

Shinobu went to tie her shoes, doing the familiar motions her older brother taught her. “I dunno, it feels like we’re just going to go to a restaurant and eat.”

“Oho? Is that what you think we’re going to do?” Kyoko grinned, unlocking the door with the keycard, letting them out of the room. “We’re gonna be eating street food for breakfast, then we eat lunch and dinner in a family restaurant somewhere.”

Shinobu sighed. “I’m pretty sure Yuka would scold us about our food choices right now.”

“Maybe she should’ve gone with us.” Kyoko shrugged, walking toward the elevator. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

Shinobu smiled as Kyoko’s back faced her. “Promise.”

They made their way down the elevator, the music as well as the low hum of them going down each floor filled their silence. Shinobu wondered if Kyoko had a concrete plan, she had one yesterday, but considering how it went she expected the vocalist to do whatever.

Shinobu glanced at Kyoko, her eyes had that brightness Yuka and Esora pointed out when they first met. The DJ’s eyes went to her hair, the tips now dyed in a dark red. Before high school ended, Shinobu knew Kyoko cut her hair to the length she has it now, but she never heard of her dyeing it.

Shinobu looked away before the elevator doors opened to the hotel’s lobby, continuing their way out. The sun hasn't risen yet but there were a few cars parked close to the hotel even though there was an underground parking lot. There were a few people scattered around, shocking the pink-haired for a moment. The temperature was a little colder than what the DJ wanted, but she couldn’t turn around and go back to bed.

“It’s a little early, so we should just walk around for a bit.” Kyoko declared as she stretched. The sunglasses were clipped onto her shirt. “It'll be a nice form of exercise, you know?”

Shinobu scrunched up her nose. “Yuka? Is that you? No way…” She had to hold down a grin when Kyoko started to giggle. “How do you look like Kyoko?”

“Hey, I’m stating facts.” The vocalist grinned down at her.

The DJ stuck her tongue out, before noticing the cold and regretting it. “Sure, whatever…”

“Heh…” Kyoko looked up for a moment. “Uh… ah, never mind.”

Shinobu glanced at her. “What?”

“Nothing, don’t worry.” The brunette showed her a soft smile. “I’m kind of… I’m just thinking about what food would be good to try first.”

The shorter girl knew she was lying. “Okay.”

“Wait a minute.” Kyoko took out her phone to look at her map. Shinobu tried to peek before Kyoko turned it off and showed her a smile. “Can I change some plans?”

Shinobu sighed. She really was going through things without a plan. “What is it?”

“If we want to taste the best street food, we have to go to Kyapo.” The vocalist explained, Shinobu raised an eyebrow. “Trust me, it’s gonna be worth it. We just need to walk a bit and take the train.”

The DJ rolled her shoulders, hearing them click. She hoped Kyoko didn’t hear. “You promised to just walk around, but, If you say it’s worth it, fine. If none of them taste good I’m gonna work all day tomorrow.”

“I’ll make sure to find something you like then.” Kyoko winked, and it sent a warm chill through Shinobu’s cold body. “Let’s start walking, we don’t want our time to run out.”

Shinobu nodded, making sure to quicken her pace to walk beside Kyoko.

She had a gut feeling something was going to happen soon.