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Life is truly a divine comedy. Nyamu adjusted her posture while facing the person in front of her, who wore more casual clothes than usual but maintained the same formal expression as on stage or backstage. Quickly, this posture shifted to a flushed and angry face. Nyamu couldn't hold back her laughter and placed her hand over her mouth.
"Would your relationship problems really exist if you thought less?"
Nyamu teased, as Uika came from behind the door carrying two cups of coffee: one for herself and another for Sakiko. Quickly, however, her cup was stolen by the cunning cat in the room. Uika just stared at her, saying nothing, only muttering to herself as she sat down near the others.
"Are you going to help me or not?"
"Well, I'm not being paid for this, but since I have nothing better to do... then tell me, what's affecting you so much?"
Nyamu tapped her nails against her cup, making an irritating noise that caused some discomfort.
"I... I'm not good at... initiating... kisses... those things..." Just as Nyamu was about to take a sip, she choked for a second. Uika's expression was that of someone who never thought they would hear something like that, much less coming from Sakiko.
"Wait, does that mean Muuko always takes the initiative?" Nyamu laughed once more, wiping away a tear that had formed from laughing so much.
"Did you come to help me or to mock me?!"
"Why not both?" Nyamu provoked.
Sakiko knew this was ridiculous. The one who proclaimed herself a goddess was asking for help with something so trivial... but it had been tormenting her for a long time.
Mutsumi and Sakiko had been dating for two months. They had already faced many things together, so Sakiko didn't want to pressure Mutsumi. Still, she couldn't take the initiative in almost anything. Mutsumi had become bold, so it hadn't become a complete problem, but Sakiko couldn't depend on her forever. She also needed to make decisions in this relationship without pressuring her. Argh... so complicated .
Sakiko was once again beside herself. She seemed a little dazed, lost in her own feelings.
Mutsumi, I can't make the decision to initiate even a kiss if I think you don't want it, but maybe, if I don't take the initiative, you'll get tired of me....
"Hello~? Sakiko, come back to planet Earth~" Nyamu waved her hand in front of Sakiko, who quickly returned to the main focus.
"Ah?! I'm sorry, I just lost focus..."
"Saki-chan, aren't you putting too much pressure on this?"
"N-no, I'm just distracted." Sakiko raised her voice, trying to maintain the remnant of dignity that was once greater. She also couldn't be a burden to her bandmates just for being paranoid.
"Right, right. Listen then! Kisses always happen at the right moments." Nyamu clapped her hands, and both other girls in the room turned their gazes to her.
"Before any action, it's necessary to create a mood. Only then can you kiss someone." She held Uika's face, pulling it close to hers, placing two fingers on the blonde's lips, who only responded with a confused and dazed look. Even so, she didn't stop her.
"Create... a mood..." Maybe Sakiko left more confused than enlightened, but at the same time, it made some sense.
"If you know how to do that, you'll surely be on the path to success~"
Sakiko felt a little more energized, more confident!
Yes, I just need to have more pride. I'm Sakiko Togawa, I shouldn't be so worried about something so silly!
"Do you think this will work...?" Uika whispered to the taller girl, who just shrugged, while both stared at the glow that was emerging in Sakiko's eyes.
____
In a small dressing room, everyone was getting ready to leave. Mutsumi was being helped by Nyamu to remove some of her makeup, while Uika and Umiri were just sitting on the sofa. Soon, the door opened.
"You guys did a good job." Sakiko smiled as she waved.
Umiri and Uika looked like dogs after a treat, smiling like silly canines. Mutsumi murmured, breaking into a smile, and Nyamu just agreed. Soon, her expression changed to an excited one, which made Sakiko already expect the worst.
"Uiko, Umiko~ Didn't you say you were dying of thirst? Let's go get some drinks."
"Hm? Actually, I'm quite hydrated."
"Just come on." Nyamu pulled the two by the hand out of the dressing room, slowly closing the door with an expression that said 'thank me later,' leaving Sakiko and a confused Mutsumi behind.
Sakiko felt her face turn red, but it wasn't from anger. It wasn't very proud to admit, but it had been a long time since Sakiko had been alone with Mutsumi, all because of her incompetence.
It wasn't long before Sakiko noticed the silence in the room, and when she turned her face to Mutsumi, she was already too close.
"Ah... M-Mutsumi..." Sakiko felt her heart beat as if she were in a marathon. She couldn't contain it and ended up avoiding eye contact.
"...Did I do something wrong?"
"Huh?" Sakiko quickly looked at Mutsumi's face. Her expression was as cold as ever, but even so, there seemed to be a hint of sadness in her eyes. Sakiko was shocked to notice this.
"Saki is distant..."
Damn it, how did I not foresee this? I know Mutsumi better than myself! Mutsumi thinks she did something wrong...
"Of course not, Mutsumi, you didn't do anything wrong! ..... It's my fault." Sakiko grabbed Mutsumi's hand, interlacing her fingers with hers.
The shorter girl's face softened, but she still looked confused. Well, she was oblivious to Sakiko's thoughts...
"I... I... I've just been thinking all this time about how to initiate a kiss..."
Rest in peace, the rest of the serious and mature posture I maintained.... Well, it wasn't possible to hide anything from Mutsumi. So, at some point, this was going to happen.
"...That." Mutsumi trembled.
Sakiko jumped, feeling a little worried. However, when she looked at Mutsumi...
Her face looked more flushed as she covered her mouth with one hand. Clearly, Mutsumi didn't look depressed. On the contrary, she found it all very funny. Sakiko's pride was the next murder victim.
"MUTSUMI, DON'T LAUGH AT ME!"
"I-I'm not..." Mutsumi trembled while holding her stomach, as if it hurt.
Sakiko heard Mutsumi's low laughter, which she tried to hide with the palm of her hand. Well, at least Mutsumi looked cute and seemed much more relaxed.
"I'm going home." Sakiko muttered as she turned towards the door, but Mutsumi pulled her sleeve, preventing her escape.
"Saki, wait." Mutsumi approached Sakiko, standing a few inches away from her. Their faces were so close that it was possible to feel each other's breath.
"..." Sakiko felt her face heat up again. She noticed that Mutsumi didn't make any further movements, just closed her eyes, as if she were waiting for Saki.
Sakiko wiped her hands as if they were dirty and gently held Mutsumi's face. Looking closer, Mutsumi looked like an angel with such a calm expression. Not wanting to keep her waiting any longer, Sakiko closed the space between their lips. The kiss was gentle and quick, but Sakiko didn't stop there, giving a few more delicate kisses across Mutsumi's face.
Omake—1
A few days before, Mutsumi met with Umiri Yahata to vent. Her bandmate and sometimes therapist, and she knew that a trustworthy person would never spread her secrets.
Umiri suggested they go shopping because, according to Nyamu, "it was relaxing." However, Umiri had already spent everything at the beginning of the month, and Mutsumi only had large bills. The most they could do was buy all the sodas from a vending machine.
"Hmm... Distant? Well, that reminds me of something." Umiri stacked the sodas like a pyramid, while Mutsumi lay on a park bench, like a therapy session... an abnormal therapy session.
"When I was participating in various bands, there were times when my colleagues became a bit distant... Well, it was my fault too. They always ended up telling me that their bassist friend had recovered from her cold and they no longer needed me in the band."
"Oh... I'm sorry."
"Thank you, Wakaba-san. It doesn't hurt that much anymore." She continued to stare at the cans of soda she was stacking, not seeming to have gotten over the situation very well... well, at least that's what it seemed.
But what could this mean? Sakiko wouldn't replace her with another guitarist (as far as she knew), so what could that mean? Well, Mutsumi didn't know, but there was someone who shared the same body and could create theories...!
Omake—2
Mortis pulled out a whiteboard where she wrote down possible ideas about what Sakiko's current distance could mean.
"The first possibility is that Sakiko-chan is too focused on the world of Ave Mujica... AGAIN. And wants to break up..."
"That.."
"Calm down, there's still more. Sakiko-chan thinks she found someone better and wants to break up. But let's be honest: there's no one better than you, Mutsumi-chan."
"Mortis..."
"And there's still the last one! Sakiko-chan wants to break up. Well, that's pretty self-explanatory. Mutsumi-chan, before any accusatory thoughts, I also made a graph!"
On the whiteboard, there was a pie chart. In it, 99.1% of the blame was attributed to Sakiko, and the rest said 'blame the factors of the universe.'
"It's clearly impossible for this to be your fault, Mutsumi-chan!"
"...But..."
"THE GRAPH DOESN'T LIE!!"