Well, they tried telling her. And she stupidly ignored their warnings. They tried telling the pressures of being a mentor. They tried telling her the troubles of teaching such a hopelessly awkward girl the ways of Morning Musume. And what did Sayumi do? She brushed them off and said that none of them had ever been a mentor. So why should she take advice from them?
Oh, how wrong she was.
First of all, the girl could not dance to save her life. They were working on the dance for Iroppoi Jirettai this week, and Koharu just could not get it. The bunny had half a mind to send her off to Ogawa or any other good dancer, but then she realized that she still wanted them to like her so that wasn't an option. Secondly, her singing sucked. She knew that hers wasn't the best either, but at least she could acknowledge that fact. Also, Kusumi tried to pull off being cute and that didn't go too well with Michishige.
Sayumi wasn't this bad, was she? Sure, she lacked in the singing department and her dancing wasn't very good either. But she had her impossible cuteness to go by and the fans absolutely adored it. Not to mention, she wasn't needy like the so-called 'Miracle'. Koharu bugged her endlessly on how to do things that every person should know how to do. If she had to hear Kusumi's whiny voice again today, she would burst.
"Um, Michishige-san? How do you-"
A cracking sound echoed through the room as Sayumi's hand connected with Koharu's cheek. Hard. "Do you ever shut up? I swear, sometimes you talk just to hear the sound of your own voice. What were you going to ask me now? Were you going to tell me you had to go to the bathroom and you wanted to know how to wipe your butt? You know what, I don't even want to know. You're not even worth my time. You don't deserve to be here! You're stupid, can't dance, and you can't sing! You should have never auditioned in the first place!"
Koharu's eyes widened with shock and tears welled up in her eyes. She placed a hand on her cheek, crouched down, and let out an ear piercing cry. "Michishige-san! (Sniff) Why would you (sniff) say those things to me? I-I thought (sniff) you l-l-liked m-me!" The bunny stood in front of her uncomfortably as Kusumi alternated between cries and sniffles.
Now she actually felt bad for her. Koharu was just tried to learn how to do things and then Sayumi had to go and slap her and tell her she didn't deserve to be in Morning Musume. If things really went like that, then Sayumi herself shouldn't even be here.
Feeling even more awkward as the 13-year-old in front of her was relentless in her cries, Michishige stepped out of the room.
**********
When Sayumi came back, she found Kusumi laying on the floor sniffling. She crouched down and tapped her on the shoulder. The bunny moved back a bit when Koharu shifted and rose to a sitting position. Her eyes widened a little when she found out who had tapped her.
"Michishige-san. I-"
"Just call me Sayumi."
"But-"
"Please." Sayumi handed her a handkerchief. "Look, Koharu. I didn't mean to snap at you, I guess. It's just that I've never been a mentor and you are a bit needy."
"Gomen nasai," Koharu mumbled as she dabbed at her eyes. THe room was silent for a few minutes until the miracle spoke up. "Michi...Sayumi-chan. Could you hang out with me today?"
Seeing the sparkles of hope in the kouhai's eyes combined with the fact that she didn't like to disappoint, Sayumi nodded.
**********
Sayumi couldn't help the tiny smile slipping onto her lips as Koharu munched on a crepe happily. She had to admit that Kusumi could be cute sometimes. Right now, she would rather be talking with Reina or Eri, but as long as she got to see Koharu like this, she didn't really care. She found herself startled momentarily as the miracle suddenly spoke. Then, she found herself fading in and out of the one-sided conversation as she talked about her hometown. If you asked Sayumi to tell you what the last ten minutes of conversation were about, she couldn't tell you.
"You're really cute, Sayumi." Okay, that snapped her out of her daze. Not to mention, it came literally out of nowhere. Michishige stared right at Koharu. "And you're also really pretty." She thought to herself a moment before confirming her statement with a nod.
Sayumi picked at her crepe nervously. "Uh, thanks."
"Can you be really pretty and really cute at the same time? Is there even a word for that? Could glamorous be the correct word? Well, it'll have to do. So now with that mind, Michishige Sayumi, you are positively glamorous."
Michishige suddenly found herself no longer uninterested in what Koharu was saying. She wanted to hear her talk more. She pushed her plate to the side.
Kusumi took notice of the half eaten crepe. "Are you going to finish that? I don't know whether I should take the crepe or just leave it there. I'm afraid of eating more than I should. Wouldn't it be interesting if you only ate one crepe too many and you blew up like a balloon? If a human were really a balloon, where would the string come out of? Would it come out your butt, or out of the bottom of your spine like a tail? Do you ever consider why monkeys have tails and apes don't?"
Sayumi was surprised that Koharu never got whiplash that day from all the sudden twisting and turning she did from topic to topic.
**********
The bunny would never admit it to her other friends, but she now enjoyed Koharu's company. As they walked back to H!P headquarters, Kusumi chattered endlessly about how nice it would be if all her clothes were pink and if she had a variant of pink as her official color instead of grey. "Because gray is such an unimaginative color, you know?"
As they stood in the main lobby area, Koharu was beaming with sheer joy.
"I had a really nice time, Sayu-chan."
Sayumi gave a little nod. "So did I." Kusumi was about to open her mouth to speak again, when Sayumi placed a small kiss on her cheek. "Thanks for keeping me entertained." The miracle's face was frozen and for once today, she had absolutely nothing to say. "Keep this a secret, okay?" Michishige patted her on the shoulder before going onto the elevator.
Koharu snapped out of her daze long enough to wave to her frantically and yell out to her even though she knew she couldn't hear her.
"I-I will, Sayumi! For as long as you want me to!"
Topic: Oneshot: A Mentor and Her Student (Sayuharu) (Read 5076 times)